Perspective: Exaggerations Does Norway Have a Far-Right Problem?
A recent article in the Guardian by Sindre Bangstad, a Norwegian social anthropologist describes Norway as being in the grip of pervasive, far-right nationalism, with violence simmering just below the surface. “Norway is in denial about the threat of far-right violence,” reads the bombastic headline. Kathrine Jebsen Moore, a fellow Norwegian, writes that Bangstad misrepresents and misleads: she motes that the Norwegian Police Security Service still regards Islamist terror threats as the most serious threat to Norway, even if it has upgraded the threat of far-right extremism from “unlikely” to “possible” after an attempted mosque attack in August. But “to see in the upgrading of the terrorist threat posed by far-right groups a general mood of irrational hatred for immigrants and Muslims, and portray Norway as a hotbed for racism, is just wrong,” Moore writes, adding: “Norway, like other European countries, is faced with a new set of challenges as it changes from a homogenous nation to a country with a growing immigrant population” – and that “Norway is coping with this influx a lot better than Sweden. So, is Norway in denial about its far-right problem? Don’t believe it.”
Norway. That idyllic, small nation of five million people just across the North Sea, is not what it seems. With its high standard of living, peculiarly slow TV shows (do you want to watch people build a clock for 30 hours?), and beautiful, quiet nature, you’d be fooled into thinking it’s a nice, peaceful country. But according to an article in the Guardian, Norway has a problem. It’s in the grip of pervasive, far-right nationalism, breeding terrorists by the…well, at least, two. And its right-of-center government, in spite of extending Norway’s generous welfare payments to newly arrived immigrants, has been “appeasing and instrumentalizing hatred for years”, according to Sindre Bangstad, a Norwegian social anthropologist.
“Norway is in denial about the threat of far-right violence,” reads the bombastic headline.
Politicians were also in on it – Bangstad partly blames the Progress party, with its “far-right rhetoric”, which formed part of a coalition government with the Conservative Party in 2013. And politicians have been (wrongly) convinced that Islamist terrorism is the biggest threat, the article claims.
Kathrine Jebsen Moore writes in The Spectator that Norway has so far been spared Islamist attacks like those in France and Britain, and hasn’t suffered from the crime wave by immigrant gangs that Sweden has. But terrorism from Islamist groups is still a serious threat. Norway’s PST (Police Security Service) classify Islamist terror threats as the most serious, although it has upgraded the threat of far-right extremism from “unlikely” to “possible” after the recent attempted mosque attack.
“But to see in the upgrading of the terrorist threat posed by far-right groups a general mood of irrational hatred for immigrants and Muslims, and portray Norway as a hotbed for racism, is just wrong,” Moore writes, adding:
Norway, like other European countries, is faced with a new set of challenges as it changes from a homogenous nation to a country with a growing immigrant population. Poverty among children is set to rise, prime minister Erna Solberg said in February, as many of the immigrants who arrived in 2015 and 2016 from Syria lack the qualifications to enter the job market. Nonetheless, Norway is coping with this influx a lot better than Sweden.
So, is Norway in denial about its far-right problem? Don’t believe it.
