Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap) believes “Putin’s regime has moved from autocracy to increasingly authoritarian aspects”. Now the Russian embassy in Norway tells Dagbladet it will inform the government about Huitfeldt’s statement.
“The embassy registers and informs the government of such plans. Statements by high-ranking members of the government against the heads of state are specifically mentioned, and the aforementioned statements join a series of unfriendly statements coming from Oslo against the Russian Federation.
The embassy’s written statement to Dagbladet begins thus.
“As professionals, we understand that Ms. Hudfeld’s words came in response to a request from the head of one of the country’s leading political parties. In other words, the words reflect a trendy competition under the slogan: ‘Who will condemn Russia the most'”, they continue before concluding:
“Participating in this is not our style. And we follow all the ethical rules of diplomacy”.
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It was only in late June that Huitfeldt offered his advice on the so-called Putin regime. The move came Written answer Storting representative and former Norwegian foreign minister Ine Eriksson to Soreide (H).
“The human rights situation in Russia has worsened significantly since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, and the authorities’ persecution and imprisonment of opposition figures, commentators, and opponents of the war continues in full force,” Huitfeldt wrote.
“Putin’s regime has gone from autocracy to increasingly authoritarian aspects. The last free media is closed and any critical expression can lead to long prison sentences.
An authoritarian regime is characterized by, among other things, limited freedom of expression and the absence of free and democratic elections. Whereas a totalitarian regime aims at universal and absolute control over all individuals and activities in society. Italy under Benito Mussolini, Germany under Adolf Hitler, and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin were associated with totalitarianism.
– Water level
Julie Wilhelmsen, a senior researcher at NUPI and a Russia expert, supports Huitfeldt’s assessment.
– I think the Minister of Foreign Affairs gives the right description of the situation in Russia, and she can do it, Wilhelmsen tells Talkbladet.
– Repression of protesters and critics of the war has worsened dramatically since February 24. For me, it was a new and frightening situation—a fear that fellow students would be silenced by their own students if they criticized the war.
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