On Sunday, Oslo SV decided to open up to change its position on NATO membership, and now says yes to the NATO debate.
With Sunday’s decision, the starting shot is fired for a historic debate, which could end with the Socialist Left Party nationally becoming a yes to the NATO party.
If the party ends up changing its position, it will be a fundamental political reversal.
The very reason why SV’s predecessor was founded was the dissatisfaction with the Labor Party’s foreign policy during the Cold War, and opposition to Norwegian NATO membership has been central to the party’s policy.
– Shocked
– The annual meeting of SV is shaken by the situation in Ukraine and we are clear that the most important thing now is to show solidarity with Ukraine. At the same time, it has been important to discuss how our security and alliance policy stands in light of the situation in Europe now, says leader of Oslo SV, Sunniva Holmås Eidsvoll.
– SHOCKED: Oslo SV leader Sunniva Holmås Eidsvoll says the new security policy situation makes the NATO debate relevant. Photo: Gorm Røseth / TV 2
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Eidsvoll says it was therefore natural for the annual meeting to ask the party to take the initiative for a broad debate, and that it will be part of the process around a new program of principles.
– SV’s security policy has held up well over time, we have seen this through several failed NATO wars outside our continent. But now we have an authoritarian superpower waging a full-scale invasion war in an independent European country, with a democratically elected government. This means that we have a completely new situation to deal with, says the Oslo SV leader.
But if it is NATO-yes from SV, it will be up to the mother party.
– The annual meeting has not concluded on the issue of NATO membership, it is the national meeting that must do.
New tones
It is not only in Oslo SV that there are new tones. In a column in VG on saturday, a number of prominent SV politicians are in favor of changing the party’s NATO position.
Kari Elisabeth Kaski from Oslo SV is clear on the motivation for the position:
– MEETING SUNDAY: Oslo SV held a meeting on Sunday where the NATO issue was discussed. Photo: Gorm Røseth / TV 2
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– It is quite obvious that Russia’s attack on Ukraine changes a lot in international and European security policy. We must discuss the consequences of that, especially in SV which is a party with international perspectives, she added Dagsavisen before the weekend.
A changed position can only take place at the party’s next ordinary national meeting, which will be held from 17 to 19 March 2023.
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