AKERSHUS FORTRESS (Nettavisen): The debate about sending weapons to Ukraine continues. Only Rødt and SV have opposed the arms supply, and now Peter Frølich (H), who heads the control and constitution committee in the Storting, has had enough. It is time to gather political Norway around the supply of weapons, he believes.
– I think this has become a basic moral issue. When Ukraine receives weapons from neutral nations such as Sweden, Switzerland and even Luxembourg – which lined up with anti-tank weapons – it says something about the fact that fence posts have been moved.
Video interview with Frølich:
The online newspaper meets Frølich at Akershus Fortress the day after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyj, spoke to the Storting via video link.
Zelensky gave a fantastic speech, but it is startling that there are parties in the hall who at the same time do not want to give him weapons. To say that one then supports Ukraine becomes a truth with modification.
– Applause is not enough. This ultimately boils down to which side of the story you want to stand on. Rødt and SV have placed themselves wrong so far, concludes Frølich, who this weekend is participating in the Conservative Party’s national meeting.
– Absolutely unbelievable
The far-right says he understands that it was not easy for some to support a weapons supply just after the war broke out, but is shocked that the images from Ukraine have not made them change their minds.
– Breaking a long-term weapons policy has been a dilemma. I can understand those who hesitated, or if anyone on the left was shocked and paralyzed in the days after the invasion. There was so much to take in. But that they have sat and watched five damn weeks of war, where they see what Ukraine is exposed to, and yet stand firm in their opposition to supporting them with weapons – it is completely inconceivable.
– You see women, men, young and old who take to the barricades and try to defend themselves with everything they have. And yet one will not give them the most basic tools to defend their freedoms?
The war would be over already, with Russian victory, if no country sent weapons to Ukraine, Frølich believes.
– Let’s say that SV and Rødt got their way, not only in Norway but in Europe and the USA. Then there would be no Ukrainian democracy left to talk about. Zelensky would have been in exile, Russian captivity or, in the worst case, dead. That is the brutal truth.
Stavrum and Eikeland: Therefore, SV can turn around NATO and weapons for use against the Russians
– But the Conservatives do not want to fulfill all the wishes of Zelenskyj either?
– We have not ruled that out, but we support the provision of weapons that can be used effectively by the Ukrainian defense. And then there are questions about the more advanced weapon systems. It requires a more advanced assessment and a coordinated, western operation. But we do not rule it out.
The Ukrainian president spoke during the speech a wish list for Norway: More weapons, including advanced naval missiles, more Norwegian gas to Europe and that Norway closes all ports to Russian ships. He only gets part of the first wish fulfilled, when Norway sends several small anti-tank missiles.
Draws parallels to World War II
Around Akershus Fortress, the Bergen man shows the area he worked from when he conducted investigative work for the military police during his first service.
– We can not go in here, but we can take a picture outside the gate, he says and stands up willingly.
The Conservative Party, which together with SP leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum has made a name for itself among many in the Storting as one of the building’s many historical nerds, points to World War II when he is to put the Ukraine invasion in context.
– World War II is a striking parallel. Here it is useful to learn from history. What we are facing is tyranny, a war against the democratic world order, a threat to the freedom of us all, and in the first instance it can only be stopped in one way, and that is with weapons.
Also read: Norway has provided another 2,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine
Both academics and columnists has argued for Norway should not send weapons because this will prolong the warand thus also prolong the disorders. Frølich dismisses this argument as a derailment.
– Does Norway prolong the war by sending weapons?
– The British and Americans extended the war against Hitler by resisting. This war must last until Russia is repulsed and Ukraine can live in freedom, he concludes.
Greetings to Lysbakken and Moxnes
SV the country’s position on arms shipments to Ukraine during a national board meeting on March 2. Afterwards, it emerged that both party leader Audun Lysbakken and fiscal policy spokesperson Kari Elisabeth Kaski voted to send weaponsand that the majority against them was scarce.
– Audun Lysbakken should be praised for the experiment, and I hope there is movement in SV and that they take a new debate, says Frølich.
Recently, Kaski was in the Nettavisen podcast Stavrum & Eikeland and argued against his own party.
– I think Norway should line up with weapons and that the time after the first decision of the national government in SV has shown that it is absolutely right to contribute with weapons to Ukraine.
– I can not come up with another political issue where I have so disagreed with my own party, she says.
Frølich has noticed all the criticism Red leader Bjørnar Moxnes has received from US critics in a separate comment field on Facebook after condemning Russia’s invasion, and that Moxnes himself has taken to counter in the comments field.
– The debate has shown that Rødt has major, internal challenges with attitudes to this issue. There seem to be elements in Red that are on the wrong side of the conflict. It shows total moral bankruptcy. Then I will give praise to Bjørnar Moxnes for at least cleaning up and stating that Russia’s invasion is a criminal act, says Frølich.
It is not too late to turn around, he believes.
– I am concerned that the other parties also follow, so that we get as much political gathering around this in Norway. Rødt and SV have a job to do there. When the story is to be written, they can get very bad out of this. But it is still not too late to turn around.
Military equipment, but not weapons
SV leader Audun Lysbakken has been presented with the criticism from Frølich, and responds as follows.
– There is full agreement in Norway that we should have solidarity with Ukraine, and I am happy about that. The most important thing Norway can do in this war is to use our economic muscles to ensure effective sanctions, contribute massively with emergency aid and receive refugees.
– SV has also supported sending military equipment to Ukraine, but as we know, we opposed the first shipment of weapons. The new shipment has been kept secret, and then we have not been able to take a position on it as a party. We have not considered whether it is right to send air defense systems and missile systems, as Zelenskyj asked in his speech to the Storting, says Lysbakken.
Red has also been presented with the criticism, but did not have the opportunity to respond in this round.
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