Norwegian parties on Thursday approved an aid package worth 75 billion Norwegian kroner (about $7.4 billion) for Ukraine, to be distributed over five years. All parties in the Storting, Norway’s parliament, supported the plan that the centre‑left government first presented on 6 February, except for the Red Party (Rødt), a small far‑left grouping. The package pledges 15 billion kroner each year in civilian and military aid from 2023 to 2027. This broad consensus ensures that the funds will continue to flow regardless of the political composition of the government that emerges from Norway’s parliamentary elections scheduled for 2025.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed MPs via video link, saying, “Now you’re setting a very important precedent for long‑term financial support to a country that defends its independence and the right of every nation to live in accordance with generally recognised international norms.” Most Norwegian parties also approved the government’s proposal to increase aid to developing countries most affected by the war in Ukraine by 5 billion kroner, citing the rise in food prices.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Norway became Europe’s main supplier of natural gas and benefited from soaring prices, a circumstance that sometimes earned it the label of “war profiteer.” “This is a notion I categorically reject,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told AFP in an interview at the end of January.
The aid package was named after Fridtjof Nansen, the renowned Norwegian polar explorer and diplomat (1861‑1930) who led humanitarian assistance to the USSR during the devastating famine of the early 1920s. His work, together with his efforts for displaced people during World War I, earned Nansen the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922.
Comments are closed for this story.