– This is a meaningless use of taxpayers’ money.
NEW YORK / OSLO (Nettavisen): On Sunday afternoon, it was revealed what the Taliban’s visit to Norway will cost taxpayers.
– The rental cost for the private plane is approximately 3.5 million kroner. That is about half of the estimated budget for the 7 million meetings. It has been necessary for security reasons. We cover all the Afghan participants’ flight and travel expenses. Other costs of the visit go to security, transport, hotel and meeting expenses, communications adviser Guri Solberg at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs Nettavisen in an email.
Also read: This is the bill for the Taliban delegation’s visit to Norway: People are furious
Also read: This is the bill for the Taliban delegation’s visit to Norway
Meaningless spending
The costs in connection with the visit make FRP leader Sylvi Listhaug furious.
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– This is a meaningless use of taxpayers’ money to invite the extreme terrorist organization Taliban on a luxury trip to Norway. It is a glaring example of how our tax money is wasted by the government. Even though NOK 7 million is little money for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which manages an incredible 40,000,000,000 development assistance kroner, it is still disrespectful to taxpayers, Listhaug writes in an email to Nettavisen.
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– Here, however, it is not the money that is the main problem but that Vedum and Støre have invited representatives of the Taliban who have countless lives on their conscience, including Norwegians, to Norway. As an Afghan women activist says. To the world, it seems that Norway is now the first to legitimize terrorism by hosting this meeting, and that under a false guise of talking about the humanitarian situation. It’s both embarrassing, embarrassing and naive! writes Listhaug.
– How do you think Norway should resolve these negotiations? By being held somewhere else in the world?
– Of course. If the international community thinks it should have talks with the Taliban, this is not something Norway should step in or be responsible for. We are set to look after Norwegian interests.
Skjalg Fjellheim, political editor of Nordlys is also critical and thinks this is a stupid decision by Støre: «This stunt has such heavy power in it that it is permissible to ask about the government’s judgment in a situation where they are struggling in heavy uphill. Dialogue is not the problem here, but the framework around dialogue, timing and symbolism is reason to question. It may seem that the government has found the recipe for how to get rid of its voters as quickly as possible.»Writes Fjellheim on Facebook.
– What is your comment on this?
– I completely agree with Fjellheim. People are furious. First, the government has delayed and provided crumbs to help people with the electricity bills. Then they have been at the very back in the corona handling and there is occasional chaos about which rules apply. While companies and people do not know how to make ends meet as a result of shutdowns and extreme electricity bills, extreme Islamists from the Taliban show up in Norway at the taxpayers’ expense. It’s so unmusical that it’s amazing.
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Støre in New York
On Sunday, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is in New York, where he will be until Wednesday.
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.
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.
Listhaug was very critical of the fact that the Minister of Petroleum and Energy was in New York a short time ago. She is also very skeptical that Støre will be 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 to put forward proposals for a maximum price for electricity and address 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 were revealed by the press.
– Støre receives criticism from several quarters, but is it not a diplomatic feather in the cap that Norway takes this initiative and has such a role?
– No. This is embarrassing, embarrassing and naive of Norway. Inviting Taliban representatives on a luxury trip to Norway at the expense of Norwegian taxpayers is disrespectful to Afghans and Norwegians, who have lost their lives as a result of the actions of this extreme Islamist organization. To believe that one can go some way in discussing human rights and women’s rights with the Taliban is like believing in Santa Claus and the Easter bunny at the same time, Listhaug writes in an email to Nettavisen.
Invited by Norway
Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Labor Party) will not meet with Taliban representatives during their visit to Norway, NRK reports.
On Sunday, the Taliban will meet with women activists, human rights activists and representatives of the Afghan media. In addition, the day will be spent on surveys to find out where the Taliban stand on important issues and how they will meet demands from the West, writes NRK.
As far as the channel is aware, the outcome of today’s meetings will affect who the Taliban will meet later – but a meeting with Norway’s Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Labor Party) will be ruled out. NRK first reported that this could be relevant, but it has later been denied.
Representatives from the Taliban, who took power in Afghanistan last year, have been invited to Norway by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for negotiations. Envoys from the USA, the EU, Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy are among those who will participate.
Not an identification
Afghanistan is facing a huge humanitarian catastrophe, and the future of women is threatened. That is why we are talking directly to the Taliban, writes Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Labor Party) in one chronicle Saturday.
“These meetings do not imply the legitimacy or recognition of the Taliban,” she said in another statement on Friday, explaining that the political situation in the country could not be allowed to lead to an even worse humanitarian catastrophe.
In the article, Huitfeldt writes that there is now a real danger that Afghan society will collapse completely, with enormous consequences for the population in the country. Therefore, it is urgent to get vital help.
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