Green Party Ends Cooperation with Centre Party After Budget Deal With Opposition

The Green Party (MDG) has declared an end to further collaboration with the Centre Party (Sp) after it joined forces with opposition parties to push through tax cuts, Dagbladet reports.

MDG’s parliamentary leader Oda Ingaard told Altinget that the Centre Party’s move has created a “very difficult situation” for the red-green coalition, accusing Sp of siding with the right-wing bloc—including the record-large Progress Party (Frp)—to “blow a huge hole in the national budget.”

“What’s the point of being prime minister if this is how they act?” Ingaard said, calling the situation “very unwise.” She demanded clarity from the Centre Party on its future stance, arguing it cannot “jump between the right and the red-green side on budget issues.”

MDG has proposed an emergency meeting to determine the red-green coalition’s next steps. The party now considers the Centre Party’s demands in the revised national budget settled, blocking any further concessions.

Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg declined to confirm whether the Centre Party had exhausted its negotiating power, telling Altinget: “I don’t think I should start those negotiations here. Partly because we haven’t presented the revised budget, and partly because I stand beside her [Ingaard] as the negotiator. It’s too early.”

He added, however, that the government would assess “the totality” of the Centre Party’s proposals, signalling potential repercussions for future budget talks.