Norway: A roundup of the latest news
UDI uncovers fake diplomas in work permit applications
Last year, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration uncovered the use of hundreds of counterfeit credentials from those from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reports.
It detected the bogus education certification when it began receiving abnormally large applications from a few countries.
It began with applications from a number of Turkish citizens who claimed to be trained chefs. However, further investigation revealed that the applicants’ documents were fake, and they were not trained as chefs.
A random check of 20 applications filed under similar circumstances revealed that 11 were fake, prompting increased scrutiny. Several applications from India were also uncovered with fake vocational certificates for training as a car mechanic, in addition to bogus documentation filed by applicants from Iran and Kosovo.
A growing number of Norwegians choosing between food and energy
More than 400,000 households in Norway are facing severe financial problems or are struggling financially, a new report has shown.
According to a report by the Consumer Research Institute (SIFO), just over a third of households are in a vulnerable financial position, while 49 percent are safe.
Public broadcaster NRK reports that SIFO has identified a trend of more people choosing between food and heating. Around one in six households has saved on food to free up money for energy bills.
“This is not sustainable long-term,” Christian Poppe from SIFO told NRK.
Europe’s biggest gas supplier, Norway, is upping security at its energy installations as experts have picked them out as a vulnerable target.
Beefing up of security comes after unexplained leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines off a Danish island.
New tax on fish farms and hydroelectric power
The community needs greater income in the coming years so that we can together protect good welfare for all. the contribute more,” Prime Minister Jonas Gehry Store said at a press conference
“We take the protection of our infrastructure very seriously and that no one can believe that attacks would remain without consequence,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a press conference in Berlin with his Norwegian
We have stepped up our efforts following the recent sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines, and it is vital to do more to ensure that our offshore infrastructure remains safe from future acts of destruction,” he said.
Norway will raise its military alert level over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s prime minister announced on Monday.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said “the military will as of tomorrow raise its preparedness”, adding the country was facing “the most serious security policy situation in decades.”
But Store maintained no direct threat against Norway, a NATO member sharing a border with Russia in the Arctic, had been detected.
“We have no reason today to believe that Russia wants to drag Norway or any other country directly into the war, but the war in Ukraine makes it necessary for all NATO countries to be more on their guard,” he said during a press conference on Monday.
According to the Norwegian Defense Minister, Bjørn Arild Gram, raising the military alert level will mean taking corresponding measures in logistics, communications and security.
“I don’t think people will see big changes due to this [security tightening] in their everyday lives. It revolves around our military apparatus, personnel, and how they set up their operations,” Store told a TV 2 reporter.
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