The Center Party, SV, MDG supports the proposal from Rødt. But they had to have the FRP on the team to get the matter on the table in the Extended Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. From there, the case could be forwarded for plenary consideration in the Storting.
It is now clear that the FRP will not take part in convening a meeting in the Storting.
– We can see no reason for such a meeting. All the information in the case has been given, says foreign policy spokesman Christian Tybring-Gjedde in the Progress Party.
He adds that a meeting of the Storting to deal with the matter will be a practical impossibility in the middle of a summer holiday and election campaign.
Moxnes: – Direct error
That is not a reason Rødt leader Bjørnar Moxnes is happy with.
– It is directly wrong that all information about this war is given. 10 years after the SMS decision to bomb Libya, the government is once again sending Norway to war for a former colonial power, after a completely irresponsible decision-making process where a number of questions remain unanswered, he writes in an email to NTB.
He adds that if Rødt wants to follow up the case also after the election, if the parliamentary picture has changed then.
Labor changed its mind
On July 14, it became clear that Norway was sending a small number of soldiers to the French-led Takuba force, which assists Malian government forces in the fight against extremist Islamist groups in the country. In 2020, Norway said no to sending soldiers to the force, because Minister of Defense Frank Bakke-Jensen (H) considered that he did not have support in the Storting to implement this. All opposition parties were against, including Frp.
Since then, the Labor Party has changed its mind. This was confirmed by Anniken Huitfeldt to NTB on 17 July. The background is that the contribution Norway is now sending is significantly less than what was proposed in 2020.
Thus, there is a majority in the Storting for Norwegian participation in the Takuba force.
Norway is already contributing to a UN force operating in the country. The Takuba force is independent of this.
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