(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Norway is the host country for the NATO exercise Trident Juncture, to be held in large parts of the country from 25. October to 7. November. Together with other Norwegian peace organizations, NATO member Striker NATO envisions an active fall:
"We will use the time ahead to mobilize larger protest markings that will take place in Trondheim on October 20, and in Bergen and Oslo on October 27," Hjelle told Ny Tid.
Stop NATO was founded as a result of the weakening of the anti-war movement in the 2000 century. From being a simple blog site with startup in 2012, antikrig.no became the creation of Stop NATO in 2016.
Now they are mobilizing with other peace activists to raise awareness of the consequences of the exercise and question Norway's role in NATO.
First in the series of mobilization meetings will take place at the Literature House in Bergen on the 5. October, when philosopher Jon Hellesnes gives a lecture on Norway's involvement in NATO (see case).
The talk is organized by Stop NATO, International Women's League for Peace and Freedom (IKFF) and the Action Group "Action against NATO Exercise Trident Juncture".
"This will also be a mobilization meeting," says Hjelle to Ny Tid.
Environmentally harmful and expensive
"There are three important sides that are very problematic with this exercise," according to Åse Møller-Hansen, member of IKFF. The first page deals with security:
"The exercise creates a greater tension between NATO and Russia which is unfortunate. A coincidence or a misunderstanding can break out into something bigger. ”
"In the global picture, we see how the interests of both Russia and the United States stand against each other in Syria. It can easily catch fire 'both here and there' », says Møller-Hansen to Ny Tid.
Russia is also holding a military exercise this fall with 300 men involved, Vostok-000. This one has been added to Siberia.
"The United States remains untouched if it melts in Scandinavia, Europe, Ukraine or Syria, although the United States is most pressing," she says.
"There is an ever-growing buildup of militarism in Europe, and it is dangerous."
She also points out the huge financial costs such an exercise imposes on society, costs she thinks should have been spent on something else:
"There is great poverty in Europe today. Welfare goods are being built down, while there is a lot of money for militarization. It is completely unnecessary. War is an old-fashioned way of resolving conflicts, and militarism is an old-fashioned way of thinking about security, ”says the peace activist.
Åse Møller-Hansen
She also points out what damage the exercise will have to the environment:
"The military is an environmental debris with gigantic greenhouse gas emissions from planes, boats and not least vehicles on the roads."
Møller-Hansen believes the military is strongly involved in destroying the living conditions of future generations. She sees a great paradox in the fact that those who safeguard our safety do not pay attention to the environment.
"We consumers are trying to cut emissions by taking more trains rather than flying, we are cycling rather than driving a car, while for the [Defense] it's just driving on without a thought for the environment."
Want a peace ministry
The counties Hedmark, Oppland, Møre and Romsdal and Trøndelag will be particularly affected when the exercise starts on October 25. For the Bergen Alliance, it is important to spread information about the exercise through flyers and stands.
"We want more debate about NATO in the public domain," Møller-Hansen says of the background for inviting philosopher Hellesnes to the Literature House on October 5. She also criticizes several media for a skewed view of the NATO exercise. She wants to see more opinions on print in the newspapers where she rarely sees matters from the work of the peace movement.
In an article in the Class Fight on September 15, International Director in Red, Marianne Gulli, stressed the need for a "thorough debate on the consequences of NATO membership." I ask if Gulli is in the IKFF demand:
"Yes, we must open the debate. Now the debate is shut down and closed to other thoughts, ”says Møller-Hansen, citing former Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen as one of the few who has raised his voice against NATO tendencies.
“The NATO exercise highlights the fact that we are moving towards more militarism and rhetoric, while we believe that we could have gone a different way. For example, a peace ministry could be established where Norway could take a leading role and be a clear peace nation, as the Labor Party put it in the Soria Moria Declaration. We could dare to raise our voices and create alternatives to the current development. ”
Møller-Hansen envisions that with a peace ministry, a representative would have sat at the king's table in the government when decisions were made:
"One who wanted to hold back and who had objected at the time Norway decided to enter Libya – one that was looking for alternatives to bombs."
This fall's three major prostate markings:
20.10. Trondheim. Location: Tordenskjoldparken at. 13.
27.10. Oslo. Location: Railway Square at. 13.
27.10. Bergen. Location: Øvre Vågsallmenningen at. 15.
Participants who stand behind the protests in Oslo are so far: Stop NATO, Norway out of NATO, IKFF, Grandmothers for Peace, Red, Red Youth, Red Oslo, NKP, Youth Communism, Socialist Youth, SV, LO in Oslo.
In addition, Red will also have its own markings.
For more information about the markings and other events related to TRJ18, we refer to the action group on Facebook: Action against NATO exercise Trident Juncture, and the daily press.