Why haven’t the Storting and the government marked the two-year anniversary with noticeably increased financial and material support for Ukraine? asks Henrik Hovland (pictured). Photo: Stein J. Bjørge
One suggestion: The framework for the Nansen program should be extended.
Published: 02/03/2024 07:30 | Updated: 04/03/2024 13:02
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The second anniversary of Russia’s attack on Kyiv is behind us, and politicians from all parties have expressed their support for Ukraine.
Words that oblige
On Facebook wrote Erna Solberg that “Ukrainians are fighting a battle on behalf of all of us who live in open, free and democratic countries”.
In Dagsavisen, Åsmund Aukrust, foreign policy spokesman for the Labor Party, wrote that “the Ukrainians are also fighting for us. And that is precisely why it is important that we on our continent contribute even more to support the Ukrainian defense struggle”.
In Aftenposten, Jonas Gahr Støre agreed that “it is about Norway’s own security”, and added that we also have “a responsibility for and an obligation to contribute to reducing the suffering and distress of others where we can make a difference” .
These are words that bind, so why don’t we do more? Why haven’t the Storting and the government marked the two-year anniversary with noticeably increased financial and material support for Ukraine?
Four specific proposals
Here are four concrete suggestions for what should be done:
- Show Russia that the support to Ukraine will continue and increase the amounts and extend the framework for the Nansen program from five to, for example, 15 years. Five years is not a long time. Norway had soldiers in the Balkans for 13 years (1992–2005) and we were in Afghanistan for 20 (2001–2021).
- Give Ukraine access to more advanced military and civilian technology. For example, Norwegian offshore industry probably has underwater robots and much else that the Ukrainian defense can use in new creative ways.
- Do what the Netherlands has announced it will do: buy artillery ammunition from third countries for delivery to Ukraine.
- Give government support to the best among the new voluntary organisations. Those who have established direct contact with departments in the Ukrainian front line, and who try to fill the equipment gap between what Ukrainian soldiers are given in their own department and the western arms aid. One example is Veteran Aid Ukraine, which has ensured that large quantities of drones, clothing, sanitary equipment and other material donated by Norwegian veterans have been sent to Ukraine. Another example is Fritt Ukraina, with the right-wing politician Petter Frølich as its leading figure, which has provided similar assistance, i.e. assistance directly to Ukrainian soldiers that the traditional aid organizations do not provide.
Dangerous for all of us
The gap between the nice words about Ukraine in the newspaper columns and the absence of new initiatives and more comprehensive support on the ground will be interpreted by Russian President Vladimir Putin as weakness.
It is dangerous for all of us.
2024-03-04 16:38:14
#slow #Norway #Ukraine
