Parliament informed about July 22nd

Minister of Justice Knut Storberget (photo) and Minister of Defence Grete Faremo on Thursday reported to the Parliament (Storting) about the follow-up after the terrorist attacks of 22 July.

Justice Minister Storberget entered the podium first, and spoke for about an hour about Norway’s defense against terror. He underlined the need for preventative measures, including a new "Terror Response Center." Its goal will be to align several of the tasks involved in fighting terror by both police and the Armed Forces, and that include everything from response time to counselling.

Storberget left the majority of the sensitive questions to the special commission named to analyze and prepare a report about Norway’s defense system before and during the attacks on July 22, such as why the police chose to take a boat from a place much further away than the camping grounds at Utvika, or why they didn’t use a helicopter.

He did, however, state that there were several flaws in Norway’s system of defense, and pointed out that a debate is still needed about the response times at the different emergency response departments. "The number of calls was extremely high, and the capacity to respond to and process each emergency became a challenge," Storberget said.

“Norway is a small country with limited resources for preparedness and crisis management. The totality of our resources must therefore be utilised in an optimally efficient manner for society as a whole,” said Ms. Faremo.

During the orientation, Defence Minister Faremo talked about the time it took between Police requested the Armed Forces’ assistance, and when it was granted. Police made five separate requests for assistance, and the first oral request came at 6.44 p.m., and was confirmed at 7.06 p.m.

Faremo said it might be necessary for the police to introduce a more pro-active procedure, which would help internal preparations start up sooner. The Norwegian Forces have to wait for permission from the Government before they can get involved in any operation, but at the same time it shouldn’t affect the efficiency, Faremo explained.

In the future, Faremo underlined that new procedures need to be introduced so that the Home Guard can more easily get involved at an earlier stage.

“Norway is a small country with limited resources for preparedness and crisis management. The totality of our resources must therefore be utilised in an optimally efficient manner for society as a whole,” said Ms. Faremo.

Prior to the orientation, Trine Skei Grande, leader of the Liberal Left Party, said that "the information that has surfaced shows our inability to defend ourselves, and reminds me of April 9."

Along with opposition leaders from the Conservative Party (Hø

Although requesting answers and investigation, the opposition did point out that any weaknesses that may have existed in our emergency defense does not take any responsibility away from Anders Behring Breivik. "Only he was responsible for these attacks," cocluded Erna Solberg (Hø

(NRK)

Written by Julie Ryland

Friday, 11 November 2011 08:08