The Constitution and Control Committee has decided to initiate proceedings against the government following the handling of Ukraine, after a series of revelations, among others, Dagbladet.
This was confirmed on Thursday by the head of the control commission, Peter Frølich (H).
This happens after, among other things, Dagbladet mentioned a number of belated responses to requests from the official Ukrainian side.
After several rounds of questions to the ministers involved, the Monitoring Committee concluded in today’s meeting that the handling of requests for assistance from Ukraine was characterized by bureaucratic chaos and delays in ministries.
One of the main points of the committee’s criticism is the government’s treatment of wounded Ukrainian soldiers, which the committee believes has a particular brand of confusion, Frølich told the press.
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Four of the ten commission members had to agree to a hearing in order for there to be a majority in favour.
There is a joint committee behind the request for a written treatment, although Labor believes the matter has been handled well.
– We believe the government handled the requests well. Norway is one of the countries that contributed the most. The government also responded well to the commission’s questions. It is however true now that there is a majority in the committee to open a case, and so we in the Labor Party are concerned that the case is being dealt with fairly and fairly, says Lubna Jaffery, parliamentary representative for the PA and deputy chair of the committee:
The hearing will be in a more sober form than what was held previously, Frølich explains to Dagbladet.
Under the motto “more control and less circus”, the committee decided to draft a letter to Prime Minister Støre which will then be discussed in the Storting, rather than calling all ministers to the Storting for boring rounds of political “barbecue”.
In the first instance, it is appropriate to involve the Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap), the Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap).
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It might also be important to call Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (AP) to get an answer on coordinating work with Ukraine’s demands, but it’s too early to wrap up now, Frølich says.
Internal disagreement
It was at the end of August that commission leader Peter Frølich (H) confirmed to Dagbladet that the government’s handling of several requests from Ukraine could end in a hearing.
Among other things, he mentioned cases where one authority has stopped aid that another authority has recently approved. Furthermore, Frølich pointed out that a number of requests from Ukraine had gone unanswered from the government and he thought this gave the impression of a lack of coordination between ministries.
Since then, Dagbladet said it has been an internal disagreement within the committee on the matter.
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The latest round of questions to Foreign Affairs Minister Anniken Huitfeldt, Justice and Emergency Minister Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) and Health and Care Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) this fall was not as extensive as the more critical voices wanted the committee.
It was the Conservative Party that downplayed the questions, according to Dagbladet’s information.
– We have chosen to listen to feedback, especially from representatives of the Ap and Sp. Therefore, a joint committee could support the letters that were finally sent to the government. I think it has its value. The most important questions were asked anyway, Frølich answered these statements.
Now the commission has nevertheless received the majority for a hearing.
