Norwegians are proud to wear a bunad, and they're often photographed, like here on the 17th of May last year. PHOTO: Views and News

“It’s difficult to say exactly how much the foreign production represents, but I think around 60 to 70 percent of bunader are now being sewn abroad,” Inger Siri Strand, who runs bunad producer Solhjell of Molde, told newspaper Aftenposten this week.

Solhjell has been concentrating strictly on the bunad portion of its clothing business in recent years and only the sale and distribution of the elaborately embroidered costumes remains in Norway. Solhjell moved all of its bunad production to Estonia in 2007.

“There’s great interest for embroidery in Estonia and the country has its own traditions of folk costumes,” Strand said. Those were among the reasons production moved from Norway to Estonia, where Solhjell now has 26 employees in the capital of Tallinn who sew and embroider the Norwegian bunader that represent various districts all around Norway, such as Telemark and Hardanger.

These bunader have their origins in Telemark and Setesdal. PHOTO: Views and News

Lower costs, however, are the biggest reason why so much of Norway’s bunad production has moved abroad. With some of the most elaborate bunader, for example the popular West Telemark version, costing as much as NOK 80,000 (USD 14,000), the savings can be substantial. And as long as the quality is high, increasing numbers of Norwegians don’t seem to care that the garment they’ll likely use as formal wear for the rest of their lives isn’t actually made in Norway.

Another company called Norske Bunadtradisjoner produces all of its bunader in China. It will deliver around 500 bunader to customers this year, while other firms use skilled seamstresses in Thailand.

There are around 450 different bunader, with the most popular ones rooted in Telemark, Hardanger and Nordland. Springtime is high season for bunader, which are worn to weddings, confirmations and, not least, on the 17th of May, Norway’s Constitution Day holiday. Bunader are also often used around Christmastime, and in other formal affairs.

Purists still wrinkle their noses over foreign-produced bunader, believing they’re not quite “the real thing.” The Husfliden chain with its 29 stores that specialize in traditional handicrafts in Norway remains the market leader in the bunad business, according to Aftenposten, but it’s feeling the competition. In addition to the bunad itself, come all the expensive accessories including special jewelry, belts and shoes that go with the various bunader, and that also are sold through Husfliden and a variety of other stores.

“It’s not that all bunader produced abroad are bad and all those that are made in Norway are good,” said Kathrine Bringsdal of handicrafts organization Norges Husflidlag. “But it’s not the same when the bunad, our national costume, is embroidered and sewn and China.”

Both Strand and other players with foreign production think it will increase, though. Others worry that can lead to a loss of bunad sewing expertise in Norway.

“Traditions are fragile,” warned Aftenposten in an editorial on the issue. “There are traditions we can’t afford to lose. If foreign production continues to grow over the next decades, we can risk that we no longer will find Norwegians who can master this once-so-proud local tradition.”

Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund

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Gunnar Sønsteby being adorned as a Commandor of St Olav's Order in 2006. He earlier had received Norway's highest honour, the War Cross with three swords, and held honours from Poland, the US and Great Britain. PHOTO: NRK/Views and News

Sønsteby will receive a full state funeral from the Oslo Cathedral, with all costs covered by the state, at noon on Friday May 25. Members of the Norwegian government, the royal family and other high-ranking dignitaries are expected to attend.

Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that a memorial reception will be held after the funeral in the large lobby of the Oslo City Hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded every year. Its walls are covered with murals, many of which depict the drama of the war and the resistance fighters like Sønsteby who played such an important role.

Sønsteby died May 10 after a relatively short illness and a long life dedicated to freedom and democracy. After initially being declared unfit for military service in the late 1930s, Sønsteby became Norway’s most daring and elusive resistance fighter and saboteur during the five-year occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany.

After the war he moved to the US to finish his education at Harvard and work for awhile, but he returned to Norway in 1950, went into private business and worked for shipyard Aker, Phillips Petroleum and Getty Oil Co in Norway. He later launched a new career as a public speaker, keen on making sure Norwegians wouldn’t forget the ordeal of World War II or take Norway’s freedom and democracy for granted.

He was one of the last surviving heroes of World War II and became a valued friend of Norway’s royal family. He served as best man to another war hero, Erling Lorentzen, who married Princess Ragnhild, the elder sister of Norway’s current King Harald V.

Sønsteby is survived by his wife Anne-Karin, whom he married in 1953, and three daughters, Elisabeth, Cecilie and Marianne.

Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund

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Nineteen teams with eight riders in each were registered for this year’s five-day race in Norway, also known as the Glava Tour. It began on Wednesday with a lap from Sandefjord to Tønsberg that was marred by two accidents: Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that first a motorcycle escorting the race overturned, and then as many as four cyclists collided. The extent of their injuries wasn’t immediately clear.

The five stages will cover a total of 895.7 kilometers, with the race continuing from Lillestrøm to Elverum on Friday, then from Hamar to Lillehammer on Saturday, and ending with a lap from Gjøvik to Hønefoss, home base of the tour’s main organizer Birger Hungerholdt. Newspaper Aftenposten reported that Hungerholdt has arranged major races in Norway for the past 37 years.

This year’s Glava Tour of Norway has attracted several cycling stars including Alessandro Petacchi of Italy and Norway’s own Edvald Boasson Hagen, who was especially looking forward to the Hamar-to-Lillehammer stage. It will go right by Hagen’s own home in Lillehammer.

Views and News staff

Flags will be waving all over Norway on Thursday, when Norwegians celebrate the signing of their constitution on the 17th of May in 1814. PHOTO: Views and News

The poll, conducted for Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK), showed that 30 percent believe the 17th of May will mean more for them this year. Among young persons responding to the poll, the number was even higher. Fully 40 percent said the holiday will have greater meaning for them this year.

“I feel that Norwegian solidarity has become much more important after what happened last summer,” Trond Ikdahl Anderson, an 18-year-old physics student at the University of Oslo, told NRK. “And the 17th of May is a day when everyone is more more together than ever.”

Asked whether the terrorist attacks, carried out by a Norwegian who claims he was attacking those who have allowed immigration to Norway, also were an attack on Norwegian values, Andersond respond, “Yes, clearly. We have always been proud of accepting all kinds of cultures and most like diversity. That’s exactly what (the confessed terrorist) opposed.”

A ‘special’ celebration
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg also thinks this year’s 17th of May celebrations will be “special.” The prime minister often travels on the 17th of May to take part in celebrations abroad, and he’ll be spending Thursday in the Shetland Islands to mark the 70th anniversary of the Norwegian base established there during World War II, when Norway was under occupation. Stoltenberg stressed that the events of July 22 are another reminder that freedom and democracy can’t be taken for granted.

“Therefore it’s extra important to celebrate this 17th of May,” Stoltenberg said.

Oslo Mayor Fabian Stang agreed, also using the words “ekstra viktig” (extra important). Bernt Hagtvet, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Oslo, said the terrorist “wanted to destroy the Norwegian constitutional democracy,” so celebration of Norway’s Constitution Day can be used for a direct public reaction from other Norwegians.

The celebration starts early
Traditional events begin early in the morning, with choirs singing outside many churches at 7:30am, followed by short speeches, song and wreath-layings at the graves of national heroes.

In Oslo, that includes ceremonies at the graves of Norwegian literary giants Henrik Wergeland, Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (who wrote the lyrics to the Norwegian national anthem) at the national Vår Frelsers (Our Saviour’s) cemetery from 8am. Ceremonies are also held at the graves of, and memorials to, many war heroes, although Norway’s 17th of May is best-known for its children’s parades and a distinct lack of military presence.

Folk dancers will literally dance in the streets leading up to the Royal Palace from 9:15am and the parade featuring all of Oslo’s schools begins at 10am, as it does in villages, towns and cities all over the country. Events in Oslo will also include a “17. mai for alle” (17th of May for Everyone”) in the so-called “Cuba Park” along the Aker River near Grünerløkka. It’s been a multi-cultural event for nearly 30 years, featuring free live concerts and appeals against racism.

Immigrants included
“The 17th of May this year will be special,” Shoaib Sultan, a member of Oslo’s 17th of May Organizing Committee, told newspaper Aftenposten. “We will celebrate freedom and democracy but also show respect and sympathy to all those hit by the attacks of July 22.”

Sultan, an adviser for Oslo’s Anti-Racism Center, said he thinks the 17th of May has become a day when immigrants and visitors to Norway can feel included in the festivities. “That’s my impression,” he said.

Everyone, meanwhile, was advised to dress warmly and it looked likely that there would be rain on the Norwegians’ parades. State meteorologists predicted chilly temperatures, under 10C (in the 40sF) all over the country, and rain many places. In Oslo, showers were expected throughout the morning.

Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund

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The Norwegians have been having a great time at the world championships, during which one of their top players even managed to break away to rush home to be present at the birth of his second child on Tuesday. Marius Holtet, age 27, arrived in time and became father to a little girl in Karlstad, Sweden, where he plays professional hockey.

He’ll be back in Stockholm in time for the important quarter-finals match on Thursday, when Norway faces the powerhouse Russian national squad. There will be more cause for celebration regardless of the outcome, though, since Thursday is Norway’s important 17th of May Constitution Day.

It’s the first time Norway has advanced to a world championship quarter final in years. Russia has added two of its stars to its team for Thursday but that doesn’t scare the Norwegians. Captain Ole-Kristian Tollefsen thinks it can be an advantage.

“We’ve seen before that there can be too many stars on a team,” Tollefsen told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). “Something happens to the third- and fourth string. They give up and figure the super-stars will take over.

“We, on the other hand, have a fourth string that’s always ready to give all they’ve got.”

Views and News staff

These two young men were among quiet mourners who continue to visit the makeshift memorial that's been set up on the mainland across from Utøya. Ten months after the massacre on Utøya, the memorial is still constantly replenished with fresh flowers, candles and notes of condolence. A book in which visitors can write down their own thoughts and messages had been placed under the rock adorned with flowers. PHOTO: Views and News

For nearly 10 months, since Norwegians were stunned by the attacks planned and executed by one of their own, most of the public mourning for Anders Behring Breivik’s victims has been characterized by flowers and song, lots of hugging and quiet tears. The restraint shown among survivors and victims’ families sitting through the most horrible testimony, day after day for the past five weeks, has been remarkable. The Norwegians have received international attention, not just for the terrorist attacks themselves, but for the way they have reacted to them.

Most of the attention has been positive, including both amazement and admiration over the sheer lack of emotional outbursts. Others, though, including some local health care professionals, have expressed concern. Where’s the anger? How natural is it, they wondered, to remain so visibly unemotional in the face of such a national tragedy?

Hayder Mustafa Qasim wondered, too. His brother Karar Mustafa Qasim, age 19, was among the 69 persons gunned down by Breivik on July 22 last year and Hayder was flown in to Oslo last Wednesday, courtesy of the Norwegian government, to represent his family in the courtroom when Karar’s autopsy report would be handled. Hayder spent most of Thursday, and Friday morning, in the courtroom observing the proceedings and seeing his brother’s killer in person for the first time.

“I sat there and looked around the courtroom,” he told reporters later on Friday. “I couldn’t understand how other people could just sit there, so passively, and be so professional about what was being said. They’d all had their lives ruined by the murderer. I started to shake.”

By late morning, Hayder Mustafa Qasim reached his own personal breaking point. He suddenly stood up and threw his shoe at Breivik, a deeply insulting act back home in Iraq. And he started yelling in the otherwise so restrained and controlled courtroom: “You killed my brother! Go to hell! Go to hell! You are a killer!” And he broke into tears.

“He (Breivik) looked me right in the eye,” Qasim told newspaper Aftenposten on Saturday. “I knew that he had understood my message.”

Sometimes roses just aren't enough to express pent-up emotions since July 22. PHOTO: Views and News

As reported shortly after the incident, Breivik was quickly hustled out of the courtroom by police, while Qasim was restrained by other police officers and taken out of the courtroom as well, but not before other previously stoic mourners had started clapping, yelling “bravo” and bursting into tears themselves. As one observer put, it was as if a pressure cooker finally exploded, but to the great relief of all.

One psychologist said later that Qasim’s highly un-Norwegian reaction was exactly what the Norwegians needed. It was about time to stop being so strong and reserved, and show the anger they’d been holding back. Espen Gamlund, an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Bergen, agreed, writing in newspaper Dagsavisen this week that anger and indignation “are normal human reactions. It must be allowed to express just how painful this feels.”

For Qasim, the attacks of last July were yet another tragedy for a family that already had been severely challenged like so many other families in Iraq. Aftenposten reported that Qasim’s father fled Iraq, is now a refugee in Shanghai and he wasn’t allowed to travel to Norway. Qasim’s teenaged brother had also fled Iraq, arriving in Norway alone as a young asylum seeker just three years ago. Karar Mustafa Qasim started learning Norwegian, became involved with the Labour Party’s youth organization AUF, got the opportunity to attend its annual summer camp on Utøya and was an active football player keen to win the camp’s tournament for his new home county of Akershus. Until he was shot along with so many others by Breivik.

“My brother was killed on Utøya, he was alone in Norway, with no family,” Qasim told Aftenposten. “The murderer killed him and destroyed my life and my family’s. I traveled from Iraq to Norway to be present in the courtroom. And it made an enormous impression on me.”

‘A very strong thing to do’
Qasim’s presence clearly made an impression on others as well. “He yelled out what we all were feeling,” said Unni Espeland Marcussen, the mother of one of Breivik’s other victims. “It was a very strong thing to do.” Frode Elgesem, an attorney for many of the other victims’ families, said he wasn’t surprised that an emotional outburst finally came.

“This wasn’t a violent attack, as I saw it,” Elgesem told news bureau NTB. “I viewed the outburst as a desperate expression of despair.” Christin Bjelland, a spokesperson for one of the many victims’ support groups, expressed understanding for Qasim’s reaction, noting that the difficult testimony and examination of the autopsy reports can spark many strong feelings.

Court proceedings this week have centered mostly on testimony from survivors of Breivik’s attacks, many of whom were seriously wounded. One young woman testifying on Tuesday described how she was first shot in the arm and immediately thought she’d survive that. Then a bullet ripped through her jaw, “and I thought that was more serious,” and when a third bullet hit her in the chest, “then I thought I would die.”

The determination she’s shown to return to a normal life after the horror of July 22 and lengthy hospital stays reflects admirable strength. She’s mourning but moving forward, she said. Qasim’s reaction on behalf of his late brother was strong in another way.

When it was met by applause by fellow mourners, “then I knew I’d done the right thing,” Qasim said. “And that I’d done what many others surely wanted to do. I could feel the tension in me letting go, and a sense of calm fell over me.”

The trial, meanwhile, resumed after a brief recess and there once again was order in the courtroom. Gamlund, the assistant professor, said further outbursts may come and should be welcomed, calling them “an important corrective” that’s as natural and even dignified as waving roses. The government, meanwhile, has introduced new legislation that can keep Breivik in a high security prison instead of a psychiatric institution even if he’s determined to be insane.  His trial will continue for another five weeks.

Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund

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Damage like this inside the Justice Ministry is costing much more than expected to clean up, even before long-term repair and reconstruction costs set in. PHOTO: Justice Ministry

“This just shows what enormous damage resulted from the attacks, what consequences it has for the state and how much money it’s going to take to repair,” Rigmor Aasrud, the government minister in charge of renewal and administration, told newspaper Aftenposten.

The government initially thought the cost of clearing the rubble, immediate repairs, new temporary offices for all the ministries hit by the bombing of July 22 and increased security in the area around the government complex downtown would amount to around NOK 590 million.

Now that’s been increased by another NOK 770 million, to a current total of NOK 1.45 billion (around USD 26 million). “It’s a huge cost,” Aasrud said. “There are a lot of other things we could have used that much money for.” She also warned the costs can keep rising.

The increase is blamed on expensive clean-up measures that have taken much longer than expected. Discovery of asbestos inside the buildings, for example, meant that every single page of recovered documents needed to be carefully vacuumed of all dust, and safety measures have been expensive and extensive as well.

The need to move several ministries into new quarters has also been expensive, at least NOK 133 million in unexpected leasing costs so far. The need to more than double the budget comes even before plans are laid for reconstruction of the area. That will cost billions more.

Economy strong, budget restrained
Finance Sigbjørn Johnsen, meanwhile, could report that Norway’s economy remains strong as he unveiled the state’s revised budget through the rest of the year. The state has collected far more taxes and fees than expected, but Johnsen nonetheless claimed it was necessary to cut back on spending.

He delivered a revised state budget that calls for using NOK 16 billion less of the oil revenues Norway could use under generally accepted spending rules. That’s NOK 6 billion less than originally budgeted, because of the boost in tax and fee revenue, and the total will amount to 3.5 percent of the size of Norway’s oil fund. Johnsen could have used up to 4 percent of the fund under Norway’s so-called handlingsregelen, the rule that governs use of oil revenues.

“It’s naturally tempting to spend more money,” Johnsen told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). He said that other economic factors affecting inflation and the strength of the Norwegian currency meant that it was wisest to avoid the temptation.

The bottom line seems to be that Norway has so much money it literally can’t spend it all, even though demands continue for better roads, better schools and better health care. Government officials are allocating more funding in the transport sector and Health Minister Anne-Grethe Strøm-Erichsen could present funds for a few new projects that meet demands, for example, for reconstructive breast surgery after cancer operations and continued use of Aker Hospital.

Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund

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The 22-year-old Gromstad, who played for local football club Stabæk in Bærum, had been reported missing over the weekend after leaving his brother’s apartment in Oslo on Saturday morning without his wallet or mobile telephone. A search was launched but his body wasn’t found until Monday morning. Police ruled out foul play.

Flags at Nadderud Stadium where Stabæk plays in Bærum were lowered to half-mast and Wednesday’s match against Vålerenga was postponed. Gromstad was considered a young star who had been brought to Stabæk as a teenager from Arendal Football Club five years ago. He had started in six of Stabæk’s eight matches so far this season.

His death marks the fourth loss of a major Norwegian athlete in just the past few months. Knut Torbjorn Eggen, another football player and coach, committed suicide earlier this year, skiing coach Inge Bråten died of cancer and world champion swimmer Alexander Dale Oen suffered a fatal heart attack earlier this month.

“It’s all terribly sad,” Nils Johan Semb, head of Norway’s football association, told newspaper Dagsavisen. “It’s just tragic when such a young athlete dies.”

Views and News staff

Norway's F16 fighter jets were active over Libya last year. PHOTO: Forsvaret/Lars Magne Hovtun

“There’s no obligation to pay compensation and there are good reasons for that,” Defense Minister Espen Barth Eide told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). “But if there are concrete, individual cases that are put forward by Libyan authorities, it’s certainly possible to take a look at them.”

Eide stressed that NATO has no plans to pay any such compensation. Jan Egeland, a former Norwegian diplomat who now serves as European director for Human Rights Watch, was nonetheless encouraged.

“It’s good that they (Norwegian authorities) now open up for this, but NATO shouldn’t wait for claims by Libyan authorities,” Egeland told NRK. “They must investigate this themselves.”

Human Rights Watch has strongly criticized NATO for failing to investigate civilian casualties during the bombing attacks on Libya last year. The organization claims 72 civilians were killed in eight separate attacks.

Views and News staff

These farmers were among those blocking distribution of flour from mills around Norway on Tuesday. Some think they should be criticizing and challenging their own agricultural cooperatives instead. PHOTO: Norges Bondelag

Norwegians do indeed have a long tradition of hailing agriculture as a means of keeping outlying districts populated and boosting national self-sufficiency. Norwegian consumers have patiently paid high prices for food for decades, while also allowing their politicians to allocate large chunks of their tax money to those farming the land.

Some now believe, however, that the root of the current conflict over subsidies and food prices lies not as much with the farmers themselves or even with the much-bashed grocery retailers, as it does with the powerful agricultural cooperatives that control the market. Their role in determining the prices of various agriculture products should be reviewed and evaluated, they contend.

Olav E Klingenberg, a retired lawyer in Norway, is among those wondering why neither the farmers nor state officials examine the powerful role that the cooperatives and so-called “market regulators” like Tine, Gilde and Nortura (Prior) have in the dairy, meat and poultry markets. Klingenberg claims that while farmers get only NOK 5 from a liter of milk that costs NOK 15 in the stores, and the store itself gets around NOK 1-2, “the rest goes to distribution – for milk, to Tine,” which has a virtual monopoly on the dairy market.

“This is an area where competitors are tiny, like Synnøve Finden and Q-meieriene, and only barely are allowed to exist on the lowest shelf,” Klingenberg wrote in a letter to newspaper Aftenposten on Tuesday. It’s “entirely possible farmers deserve higher prices for their products,” he wrote, but he thinks they should re-evaluate their own distribution structure and the prices they get through Tine, Gilde and Nortura.

While Norway’s major farmers’ oganizations like Norges Bondelag and Norsk Bonde- og Småbrukarlag are quick to criticize government officials and launch protests, they’re not inclined to criticize the co-ops as market-makers. On the contrary, they’ve even tried to punish fledgling farmer-owned competitors to the cooperatives, like last winter when they boycotted a hotel that no longer served milk from Tine.

“If you raise questions about why most of what we pay for food disappears into a mammoth cooperative, we’re told that any changes would have greater consequences for life in rural districts than the plague,” Klingenberg wrote in his letter to Aftenposten.

He suggests that’s a “bluff,” and that the farmers who own Tine and Gilde and Nortura should demand that they operate with more economic advantages for the farmers themselves.

Embattled state officials, faced with a startling lack of gratitude for billions of kroner in subsidies over the years, may finally raise questions themselves, although Agriculture Minister Lars Peder Brekk also refused to publicly criticize or examine Tine’s role when the butter shortage hit last fall. Meanwhile, the farmers keep blaming the government instead of turning a critical eye on the structure of the very system that pays them. And thousands of consumers keep driving over the border to Sweden to buy cheaper groceries there instead.

Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund

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