Alerts power action during elite matches

While electricity prices continue to be record high in southern Norway, new protest actions are planned in the large Facebook group “We who demand cheaper electricity”.

One of them is a so-called power campaign which will take place at Arendalsuka. The annual meeting for politicians and the business community will be held next week.

Police Security Service (PST) have previously warned about these Facebook groups against electricity prices and asked people to report if they see signs of radicalization and calls for violence.

In the groups, there is a lot of despair over the large electricity costs, and the accusations that the politicians are traitors to the country remain unsolved.

Yellow sweaters

In the group with over 600,000 members, people are encouraged to join Arendal.

“Jan Eivind and the gang have worked day and night for several days preparing the electricity campaign during Arendal Week” writes group leader Olav Sylte in a post in the group on Monday.

He also promises another electricity price demonstration soon, if it gets enough support.

Arendalsuka has 1,000 events and several hundred stands, and the campaigners plan to have their own appeals and stands.

The campaigners will also be visible during the live party leader debate in Arendal and show that they are engaged.

“We have an electricity case to win,” writes organizer Jan Eivind Braaten in the group.

They have collected over NOK 90,000 for the campaign and printed banners and signal yellow jumpers. They encourage members to come up with suggestions for “stunts”.

Warns against protest trains

– Like all other political actors, we want to stand up where things happen, says initiator Jan Eivind Braaten to Dagbladet.

– Is there a danger that this could escalate?

– I myself have gone out in the internal group on Facebook and said that I am against protest trains, you quickly attract people you don’t want there who want to make noise, says Braaten.

The group says they collaborate with Arendalsuka.

– When we are in the spotlight at PST, we don’t want to wear anything. We adhere to what the organizer has said to the letter, says Braaten.

He himself is from Gjerstad in Agder, where he particularly notices the electricity prices as permanently disabling his own business. He works a lot to get the economy going and thinks both the government and the opposition are doing too little.

– On both sides they sit and wait. It is very frustrating, he says.

PST warned

PST writes in its threat assessment for 2022 that they see increased activity from people with anti-state attitudes, but that the likelihood of violence is small.

Crises in society can nevertheless lead to more acts of sabotage and demonstrations with spontaneous violence, warns PST in the report.

PST still encourages people to warn about radicalization around the dissatisfaction with electricity prices. The assessments are the same, but they leave Arendalsuka to the police.

– Political demonstrations about increased electricity prices are completely legal. Our focus is on those who incite violence, says Martin Bernsen, senior advisor in PST to Dagbladet.

Have banned several

Arendalsuka is open to most people who want to have stands or events, but prohibits what they call anti-democratic or racist actors.

They have previously banned groups such as Stop the Islamization of Norway (Sian), the marginal political party Alliansen and the Nazi organization “The Nordic Resistance Movement”.

Arendalsuka was contacted last week by the Facebook group to hear how they could participate.

– The stands are fully booked, but we encouraged them to contact various event venues to find a venue where they can debate what they perceive to be a challenge in society, says Tone Skindlo Taraldsen in Arendalsuka’s project management.

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