(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Socialist People's Party, the forerunner of SV which is now celebrating 50 years, came as a breath of fresh air into Norwegian politics in 1961. The party's message was expressed in condensed form in three slogans: Renewal in Norwegian politics – Peace and socialism – The third alternative. SF was particularly a reaction to Norway's foreign policy. Opposition to NATO, against Norwegian EEC membership from 1961 and eventually opposition to the US Vietnam War and its Norwegian supporters. But SF was also a reaction against aligning itself with great powers that came into conflict with the United States. Therefore, the NKP with its close ties to the Soviet Union was not an alternative. Nor was the ML movement's homage to China a few years later.
The Socialist People's Party was particularly a reaction to Norway's foreign policy.
The SF's line was continued by the SV, which was formed in 1975. But that was until 2023. Then the SV officially and programmatically decided to delete "No to NATO". In practice, this change was nevertheless prepared through the SV's support for several of NATO's wars after 1999. Before this, the party maintained an independent foreign policy line. One important conflict in which the SV made an honorable figure deserves mention. Almost all other parties condemned Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia, which ended Pol Pot's genocide in 1979. The SV did not condemn the Vietnamese action. In Oslo, there were demonstrations with the slogan "Vietnam out of Kampuchea", supported by, among others, the AKP, the Liberal Party and the Young Liberal Party. Norway followed the US and China in the UN and distanced itself from Vietnam. For the next decade, the Pol Pot regime was thus recognized as Cambodia's "real" government.
Branded as traitors
These 50s and 60s were a time when fundamentalist black-and-white thinking dominated the other political parties (with Foreign Minister Lyng in the Borten government as a possible exception). It was the Cold War. Here in Norway, not only NKP members, but anyone who expressed uncertainty about NATO's blessings, were easily labeled as traitors who were doing Moscow's bidding. Many were illegally monitored. SF, with around 5 percent of the voters behind them, dared to stand firm in this storm. SF and SV stood for the third position in the Cold War. It was not in Norway's interests to take NATO and the US side in any conflict. Weapons were not the way to peace, security should also be sought for the other side, and at a minimum one should familiarize oneself with the other side's arguments. Neutrality was a possible political position. There were conflicts where no party deserved unconditional support.
SV has not managed to stand tall in the political storm of our time, but has joined the NATO fold.
All this sheds light on today's Cold War, with its accompanying Manichean demands to divide the world into good and evil. SV has failed to stand tall in the political storm of our time, but has acquiesced in the NATO fold. The party's foreign policyYour profile has been deleted. The SV leadershipThe justification for this change has been that the majority is for NATO, and that it is difficult to fight against a majority. That is to say, there has always been a majority for NATO. If those who founded SF and SV had followed this logic, neither SF nor SV would have seen the light of day.
I was a member of SF in the 60s. At the same time, I was in SUF, at that time SF's youth organization and eventually an important element in the ML movement. But the lack of real debate and Stalinist alignment led me out of SUF. Since the election in 1973, I have supported SV with both my vote and membership. Now I must confess my discomfort. SV is about to abandon the legacy of SF and the peace line that SF stood for. That is why I am one of the initiators of Open letter to SV's leadership, which is printed on this page.
See the petition referenced in MODERN TIMES.
Red .: Orientering and MODERN TIMES was previously SF's and then SV's newspaper,
but became completely independent from party politics in 2006. Overreign is a retired lecturer at
University of Tromsø
