Norwegian politics, Labor Party | – It may look like the government has found the recipe for how to get rid of its voters as quickly as possible

NEW YORK (Nettavisen): This is what Skjalg Fjellheim, political editor of Nordlys, says to Nettavisen in connection with the Taliban visit that is now taking place in Norway.

– The chance is equal to zero

– I have no faith that in Norway one can now convince this criminal gang from Kabul that universal human rights are something they should suddenly be respected for. No, the safest outcome with this visit is a further fall for the Labor Party and the Center Party, says Fjellheim to Nettavisen.

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– The chance of convincing this gang to follow human rights is equal to zero. When you also know what they have stood for and stand for, then we can not believe that it will work – that we will sit in a hotel and say that we are right and they are wrong, it will not happen, says Fjellheim .

The political editor has posted a longer post on Facebook in which he criticizes the government for inviting the Taliban to the country.

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“This stunt has such heavy power in it that it is allowed to ask about the government’s judgment in a situation where they are struggling on a heavy hill. Dialogue is not the problem here, but the framework around dialogue, timing and symbolism is reason to question. It may look like the government has found the recipe for getting rid of its voters as quickly as possible. ” writes Fjellheim.

– Very bad store for Støre’s government

The Nordlys editor elaborates on the criticism to Nettavisen.

– It has not been possible to tell the Norwegian people in a good enough way why they do this. And why is it necessary for this to happen in Norway? says the editor.

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On Sunday, it was also announced how much the Taliban visit will cost Norwegian taxpayers. The government spends NOK 7.5 million on the Taliban’s visit to Norway, of which NOK 3.5 million comes from the Taliban’s private aircraft from Afghanistan to Norway.

– 7.5 million kroner is not a large sum, but there is a very large symbolism in it at a time when many Norwegians are having a hard time due to the pandemic, loss of jobs and income, and not least the electricity crisis. And then it is that Norway opens up and pays a chartered plane for this gang, a very bad shop for Støre’s government, says Fjellheim.

– Is this now so wise, that these people we escaped from four months ago, and who when they took our embassy in Kabul threw out all the wine and spirits to the ambassador, it is now so wise that we should invite them to Oslo in luxury hotels ? says Fjellheim sarcastically.

– Another issue the government did not need

Fjellheim believes the Taliban visit will now be a new burdensome issue for the government.

– Now they have had the Storting president’s buzz with commuter housing, electricity prices that they have handled poorly, a pandemic that they have been criticized for handling, the noise around the central bank governor, and then they go with open eyes into this which is one of the most geopolitically sensitive the cases, namely Afghanistan, and invites this gang with with criminals at the expense of taxpayers.

– What was thought to be a feather in the cap, will instead be a major domestic policy problem for the government. No, this will be another case they did not need, says the Nordlys editor.

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– A gift package for Sylvi Listhaug

Fjellheim also believes that the Taliban visit has become “a gift package” for FRP and FRP leader Sylvi Listhaug.

– For the Center Party, this is also a great risk, since there is a large transition of voters between Sp and Frp. And what Sp now risks is that the transition of voters back from Sp to Frp will continue, and this case helps a lot, Fjellheim believes.

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The Northern Lights editor also believes it is too late for the government to recover from the criticism of the Taliban visit.

– The damage has already happened. This is a triumph for the Taliban, where they take pictures of themselves and publish them on social media. They are flown in luxury planes with leather seats and beds to a western European country. They see this as a recognition, and even though we and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs say that it is not, that is how they present it, says Fjellheim.

– The Norwegian people are completely unprepared

Although the political editor is critical of the visit, the Nordlys editor emphasizes that the initiative is good.

– I am not against dialogue and diplomacy, and I am also concerned that there are humanitarian channels that can help people in Afghanistan and get them out of the terrible situation they are in, but I also have great respect for people reacting to this .

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– There is something about it happening without context, and that the Norwegian people are completely unprepared for it, there has been no info or communication in advance of the negotiations, which could have been natural in that it has with certainty to do, says Fjellheim.

– Very unfortunate for the government

– One could, for example, take a different direction, and meet the Taliban somewhere else. Norway says that many other countries are involved, including Italy. But I reckon Italy is happy that they are dropping these calls at a luxury hotel overlooking the Colosseum. And I think that, to be completely honest, applies to any Western European country. Because these are not normal state visits, these are criminals, says Fjellheim.

– Imagine that, they are sitting on Soria Moria. And one of these is wanted by the United States. They have a bounty on his head. Well, at least they did not go down without explaining themselves first. He is at Soria Moria in Oslo. There is something about the timing here and the framework around and the direction here that is so very, very unfortunate for the government, says the Nordlys editor to Nettavisen.

– Huge PR triumph for the Taliban

Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt emphasized on Dagsrevyen on Sunday that it is the Taliban who have chosen which people should be sent to Norway.

– We know that some of these are wanted, and that is also why they have come to Norway in the way they have come, Huitfeldt said, according to NTB.

Skjalg Fjellheim also reacts to this.

– As I understand it, Norway has had to keep this a secret, because some of these are wanted terrorists. If they had been told this in advance, they would not have been allowed in. She also says that they have not had any influence over who the Taliban sent, the Taliban have decided that themselves. In other words, they have given up control completely. No matter how this ends, there is only one winner, and that is the Taliban.

– This is a huge PR triumph for the Taliban that they will use for all it is worth, says Skjalg Fjellheim to Nettavisen.

Støre in New York

On Sunday, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is in New York. And the Taliban negotiations in particular will probably now be one of the big talking points when Støre is to meet the Norwegian press at 11 pm on Sunday night, Norwegian time.

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Støre is in New York until Wednesday 26 January, where he will participate in the UN Security Council, in addition to meetings with business and cultural life.

– Wrong priority of the Prime Minister to travel to the United States

FRP leader Sylvi Listhaug is very skeptical that Støre will stay in New York while the Taliban visit Norway.

– I think it is the wrong priority of the Prime Minister to travel to the US and New York when people here at home are struggling due to pandemics and electricity bills. Støre should have been at home and put forward proposals for a maximum price for electricity and taken up the challenges at home. Is it possible he does not want speculation that he will face the Taliban? We remember earlier that he had meetings with Hamas which he claimed had not taken place but was revealed by the press, Listhaug says in a comment to Nettavisen.

The seas: – No, there is no feather in Støre’s hat, it’s embarrassing and embarrassing