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Why we voted as we voted!





(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)

Oslo city council decided on December 07.12.05, XNUMX, that the United States should be able to build its new embassy in the House Forest. Most people who are concerned about the city's well-being have registered that the matter has been difficult. The undersigned and a majority of the SV's city council group in Oslo voted against the proposed zoning plan, and we have explained all along the way what are the motives for our position. However, some have argued that our opposition to the Embassy in the House Forest is to do with our alleged "hateful relationship" with the United States.

I have read every single document in the case, surveyed the area five times and attended countless meetings, both on and off City Hall. I can assure that my and my group's position on the case was based on facts. We agreed to the location of the US Embassy to Husebyskogen because the site is regulated and used as a recreation area and is part of the Green Plan for the City of Oslo. 31 out of 32 consultative bodies advised against the development of the area, including three heavy professional bodies. The plot is further up close to the Njårdhallen which many children use daily, thus an embassy building could expose these children to terrorist danger.

It's absurd to believe that my / our point of view was caused by a hateful relationship with the United States. It is true that the SV has for a long time been critical of certain parts of US foreign, trade, military, and environmental policy. Furthermore, we are very critical of the United States' disregard for the international legal order and international agreements, such as the Kyoto Agreement. However, our criticism has always been based on principles of justice and justice. It is precisely these principles that underpin our opposition to building an embassy in a free area. Oslo's children are required to keep green lungs. Future generations are demanding that the city's politicians look beyond their noses and leave a city breathless. Justice also indicates that a life on Huseby is as valuable as a life on Drammenveien.

At the same time indicate a respect for international agreements that allow the United States to build its embassy on a secure site in or around the main stand. However, the Vienna Convention does not require embassies to be located in capitals, and the Americans themselves have visited plots outside Oslo's borders. I therefore presented five different plots that could have been good embassy plots.

Disagreeing with a case is a legitimate right. But the debate benefits from the fact that we relate objectively to one another and do not attach to each other motives that have no root in reality.

Akhtar Chaudhry, faction leader Oslo City Council (SV).

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