As the EU discusses sanctions against Russian oil and gas, Norway hesitates. Greenpeace and the Norwegian Shipowners Association are demanding that the government impose its own sanctions.
Despite economic sanctions against Russia, the country still exports large amounts of oil and gas to Europe. Norway is also on the list, according to Klassekampen.
For several months, Greenpeace has been asking the government to ban all imports of Russian oil into Norway and, together with the Association of Norwegian Shipowners, they have been asking the government to introduce its own sanctions.
So far, they have not received a response to their requests.
– We think the government’s attitude is incredibly clumsy. There is no reason not to immediately impose sanctions on Russian oil, says Greenpeace leader Frode Pleym, who is backed by the Norwegian Shipowners Association.
– If you want to hit Putin’s regime, you have to hit him on cash flow and energy revenue, says CEO Harald Solberg of the Norwegian Shipowners Association.
He points out that the US, UK and Canada have introduced sanctions, while this is still under discussion within the EU.
Pleym understands that it is difficult for companies and shipping companies to impose sanctions themselves, even though they may have a moral responsibility.
– Then it is the responsibility of the government to introduce unilateral sanctions until the EU can propose sufficiently strong sanctions at the end of the year, he says.
The sixth EU sanctions package against Russia proposes to ban the import of Russian oil, but all EU countries must say yes to the proposal and it may take several months before it is introduced .
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