More Norwegians are asking family and friends for financial help

Almost one in four Norwegians have asked friends and family for financial help this year. The proportion has more than doubled since the coronavirus crisis.

The survey was carried out by Ipsos for the Salvation Army. When the same question was asked in November 2020, nine percent of respondents said they asked close contacts for financial help, compared to 23 percent this year.

“Many people also experienced challenges during the coronavirus crisis, when thousands were laid off. Now we see lower unemployment, but a historically high and steep increase in costs for food, fuel, and housing, among other things,” communications manager Geir Smith-Solevåg in the Salvation Army noted.

“Our survey also shows that an increasing number of people who have asked for help from family and friends have done so for the first time. Some 43 percent did so for the first time in 2020 compared to 54 percent this year,” Smith-Solevåg concluded.

Euroscepticism Norway on the rise in Norway

After record support for Norwegian European Union (EU) membership in May, EU scepticism is back. Only about one in four Norwegians want Norway to join the EU, a new survey shows.

The proportion of those who would say “no” if there was a referendum on Norway’s accession to the EU tomorrow is now at 55.8 percent. The proportion of those who would vote “yes” is at 27.2 percent, a decrease of 8.1 percentage points from the previous poll, the newspaper Nationen writes.

Support is also decreasing for the European Economic Area (EEA). In the previous survey, 64.9 percent of respondents said they would support the EEA agreement if there were a referendum tomorrow. Half a year later, the support fell to 58 percent.

READ MORE: Why isn’t Norway an EU member?

Voluntary mediation between SAS and cabin crew

New voluntary mediation between airline SAS and cabin crew in Norway will start on Monday. The talks will tackle a new collective agreement and efficiency improvements.

The negotiations started in September, and the parties have also engaged in mediation previously without reaching an agreement.

Around 500 cabin crew may go on strike if the parties do not reach an agreement, FriFagbevegelse writes.

Union leader Elin Roverudseter in the Cabin Crew Association has previously said that cabin crew would not compromise on salaries or working hours.

“We do not agree to have wages drop again. It is really completely out of the question in a profession that is already defined as a low-wage profession,” she told FriFagbevegelse ahead of the negotiations.

European Commission: No dialogue with Norway on train privatisation

Last year, the Norwegian government promised rapid dialogue with the European Union (EU) to stop train market privatisation in the country.

But the EU claims they have not heard anything from Norway on the matter.

“So far, we have not received any request for discussions on this matter,” a source in the European Commission told the news bureau NTB.

Within the EU’s fourth railway package, Norway will have to open all train traffic to competition after Christmas Eve, 2023.

In the Hurdal Platform, the Labour Party (AP) and the Centre Party (SP) stated that they would enter into a dialogue with the EU “as soon as possible” in order to secure exemptions from the privatisation requirements.