I've just received this e-mail and letter from the Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
Dear ,
with reference to your e-mail to Bjørn Jahnsen at the Norwegian Foreign Minister's press office, pleased be advised that the attached response letter from ambassador Bjarne Lindstrøm was sent to the Scottish Daily Mail this morning. We very much hope this will appear in tomorrow's edition of the newspaper in order to avoid further misunderstandings.
Kind regards,
Stein Iversen
Stein Iversen
Minister Counsellor
Head of Press, Information & Cultural Affairs
Royal Norwegian Embassy
25 Belgrave Square,
London SW1X 8QDWork
(+44) 020 7591 5521Mob.
(+44) 0777 55 24 737
sti@mfa.no http://www.norway.org.uk/
Sir,
The article "Salmond Slapped down by Norway Minister" in the Daily Mail on 29 October contained several incorrect and misleading statements attributed to Norway's Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Firstly, there is no "growing anger in Norway" over comparisons made between Scotland and Norway during the debate in the United Kingdom against the backdrop of the current global financial crisis.
Secondly, no accusations have been made by Mr Støre against Mr Salmond, as alleged in the article. In the interview, the Foreign Minister merely pointed out factual similarities and differences between the challenges presently faced by Scotland and Norway. Inferring from this that Mr Støre is of the view that Mr Salmond has in any way lied or mislead the public, is simply incorrect.
In short, the Norwegian Foreign Minister did not intend to criticise either side in this debate, which is a domestic political discussion. What he strongly emphasised in the interview with the Daily Mail and which, sadly, was simply omitted from the article, was his sincere appreciation of the warm ongoing relationship between Scotland and Norway.
Yours sincerely,
Bjarne Lindstrøm
Ambassador of Norway
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2 comments:
Anyone who expects the Daily Mail to print this or a retraction please contact me re purchase of the Forth Railway Bridge.
Expectations regarding the Scottish Daily Mail are such that there is little surprise in their bottom feeding in the cesspit that is Unionist propaganda. However it is with some genuine surprise and dismay to hear that the new Scottish Secretary of State saw fit to use Scottish questions to attack the First Minister on the basis of the SDM's cockeyed and agendised misrepresentation of the Norwegian Foreign Minister.
It is nothing short of a disgrace that the the Secretary of State for Scotland should do this rather than attend to Westminster business at questions.
Especially when at the same time making a quip about an 'arc of insolvency', a phrase which must be both insulting and especially in the case of Norway, highly inaccurate, to the nations concerned.
It would be interesting to hear the Norwegian Foreign Minister's opinion regarding whether he preferred Norway to be described as 'prosperous' or 'insolvent'.
I do not follow the Daily Mail as their totally biased outpourings tend to make me see red! However, from various sources, I had picked up on this 'attack' on an independent nation by our so called Secretary of State.
Murphy, has shown himself to be totally ignorant of Scotland's strong ties to Norway through culture as well as tie ups genetically. Many place names and family names in Scotland are 'Norse'as well as words. Likewise, there are Norwegian words which are more 'Scots' than anything else as well as names.
Did he really believe that stuff he came out with about a country which is extra good on working quietly and diplomatically to bring disputing nations/groups quietly together and the host of the Nobel Peace Award?
If nothing else, that outburst, about which he seemed so pleased, was a deliberate and ignorant slur on an independent sovereign nation, which said far more about an ignorant and undiplomatic character unfit for his position, than it did about his intended target.
Keep watching! Well done to publicise this.
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