Oslo criticizes the authorities for exceeding their authority
Norwegian city only wants to accept Ukrainians
February 14, 2024, 8:16 p.m
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Drammen is the fifth largest city in Norway. At an evening meeting, the city council there decided to only accept Ukrainians as refugees. This caused waves of outrage even in the capital, Oslo.
The fifth-largest Norwegian city of Drammen has sparked cross-party outrage with a decision to give preferential admission to Ukrainian refugees. Despite previous warnings from the government in Oslo, the city council of Drammen in the south of the country voted by a narrow majority on Tuesday evening to only accept Ukrainian refugees in the future. Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Störe, who leads a center-left government, spoke of exceeding his authority. “This is not something that cities can decide,” he told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
Drammen is only 40 kilometers from the capital Oslo and has 120,000 inhabitants. The mayor belongs to the conservative party, and in the city council there is a majority made up of members of the conservative party, an anti-immigrant right-wing party, the Christian Democrats and a small pensioners’ party.
Prime Minister Störe described the city’s decision at NRK as “not legal”. It is a “fundamental value to ensure equal treatment of people on the run”. Erna Solberg, leader of the conservative party, also expressed criticism. No municipality can decide to “only accept refugees from a certain country,” she told the NTB news agency. But it is also not “unusual” to have preferences when it comes to countries of origin, she added.
Complaint for “institutional racism”
A member of the Norwegian Center Party, which is part of the governing coalition in Oslo, immediately reported the city council to the police for “institutional racism.”
According to the Norwegian Newspaper “VG” The city council has since reformulated its decision. “We believe that the war can be viewed as an objective reason for prioritization,” it now says. And further: “We are fully aware that we are testing the limits of our influence as local politicians.” The Norwegian government has also already decided to prioritize refugees without this being seen as discriminatory. “We have the confidence to do that too.”