Norway kicks of Eurovision but only makes 18th place, opposition attacks failure to consult parliament on new Nato operations centre, and other news from Norway on Monday.
Norwegian hopeful Kyle Alessandro kicked off the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night. But despite being first to perform, he only managed to make 18th place, just ahead of the UK and Denmark but far behind Sweden in fourth place.
“It’s such an incredibly good feeling! I feel so honored to be allowed to represent Norway. So incredibly cool!” Alessandro told the Norwegian press after Austria’s JJ took the winning spot with his bombastic pop opera song Wasted Love.
Alessandro’s Lighter did slightly better than the 23rd place predicted for him by the bookmakers, thanks perhaps to a performance that the leader of NRK’s delegation Mads Tørklep said was the “best of all the performances we’ve had”.
May 17th celebrations marred by fights and drunken brawls
Police across Norway were dealing with the fallout on Saturday night of a combination of May 17th National Day celebrations and the Eurovision final.
In Oslo, police reported “non-stop fights, drunkenness and disorder,” although no serious incidents were recorded.
“This kind of night takes enormous capacity,” operations leader Per Ivar Iversen told the Dagbladet newspaper. “It’s disappointing that grown adults can’t control themselves.”
In the police’s southwest region, police responded to over 100 incidents, many linked to intoxication.
Police were brought in to help clear crowds from nightclubs in Harstad and Tromsø. In Kristiansand, a man in his 20s bit a police officer and is now charged with assault.
A woman in Finnmark was reported for misusing the emergency line while heavily intoxicated.
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Man caught smuggling $95,000 across Norwegian border
A foreign national was stopped at the Sør-Varanger border crossing on Sunday carrying $95,000 in undeclared cash – nearly 1 million kroner, or about 40 times the maximum of 25,000 kroner in cash you are allowed to bring across the border.
The man was fined 20 percent of the total sum – roughly $19,000 – which has been confiscated by the state, police said.
Norway condemns deadly Israeli airstrike on Gaza
Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre on Sunday condemned Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that killed over 100 people, including many children.
“Israel is using suffering and hunger as weapons,” Støre told the NTB newswire. “This violates international law. The violence must end, hostages must be released, and aid must be allowed in.”
The strikes follow weeks of severe food shortages due to Israel’s blockade.
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Budget decision on Bodø airbase slammed by opposition
The opposition Conservative Party has complained that parliament was not consulted on a decision to host a new NATO air operations centre in Bodø.
The decision on came to light when the government allocated 438 million kroner to the new base in the revised budget announced on Wednesday, in what came as a surprise to opposition parties.
“This came like a bolt from the blue,” The Conservative MP Hårek Elvenes told the Forsvarets Forum defence magazine on Friday.
“The process has been closed, without the parliament being consulted,” he told NTB. “When nearly half a billion kroner is to be spent on a temporary solution, there should be weighty reasons if this is not continued in a permanent solution.”
Although Norway’s defence chief reportedly preferred Bodø, military advisors had recommended Rygge.
The Defence Ministry says Nato demanded a fast-track decision.
Residential prices rise 11 percent in Bergen
Price of flats and houses have surged by 11.1 percent over the past 12 months, far outpacing the national average and significantly higher than the increases seen in Oslo (4.8 percent) and Trondheim (3.4 percent), according to figures from Eiendom Norge. Just since January, prices in Bergen have risen by 7.6 percent.
Homes are staying on average just 19 days on the market, something Vibeke Stavenes, CEO of real estate agency Proaktiv, told the Finansavisen newspaper was a record.
“Earlier this year, demand was concentrated around entry-level homes, but now we’re seeing pressure across the board, including on family homes up to 7–8 million kroner,” she said.
She pointed to a chronic lack of supply as a key driver, with too little construction in recent years pushing more buyers into the resale market.
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Record number of Norwegians plan ‘staycations’ this summer
A record number of Norwegians are planning to spend their summer holidays at home in Norway this year, with the weak krone largely to blame.
Seven out of ten people surveyed by a survey by Kantar for the Norwegian Hospitality Association said they planned to take their holiday in Norway, the highest share ever recorded.
Of those a quarter said they were cancelling or scaling back foreign travel due to cost, indicating the weak krone is a significant factor.
While the number planning to visit Sweden and Denmark was stable, the number planning European holidays further afield declined, with just 30 percent planning to combine foreign and domestic travel.