The Royal Palace beyond stores and restaurants along Karl Johans Gate in Oslo, Norway, on Oct. 17, 2023. (Fredrik Solstad/Bloomberg)
(Tribune News Service) — Norway’s government proposed that it should be a criminal offense to help foreign powers influence decision making or public opinion that could harm the Nordic country’s national security.
A NATO member state sharing a border with Russia, Norway has identified its largest neighbor and China as key threat actors. Protective measures were boosted around its North Sea oil and gas infrastructure after blasts ruptured the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022 and more recent incidents involving pipelines and data cables in the Baltic Sea.
The bill would make it a crime “to contribute to activities that can damage basic societal interests on behalf of foreign intelligence,” Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said in a statement Friday. She said the proposal, amending an initial draft by the opposition parties, balances security with freedom of expression considerations.
Norway’s Police Security Service, PST, will receive powers to use “hidden means of coercion” to better detect and prevent foreign influence operations, Mehl added.
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