Norwegian prime minister confirms meetings with opposition leaders

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has confirmed he held separate meetings this week with the leaders of the Centre Party and the Green Party, Dagbladet reports.

In a statement to Norwegian news agency NTB, Støre said he met with Centre Party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum “at the start of the week” to discuss cooperation, calling it “a good meeting.” On Thursday morning, he also met with Green Party leader Arild Hermstad in what he described as another “good meeting.”

The talks follow a bitter dispute over fuel taxes, which led the Centre Party to break its budget agreement with the government. The Green Party has previously called for Støre to convene a joint meeting of left-leaning party leaders, while the Centre Party has rejected the idea.

Støre added that he has scheduled further meetings with the leaders of the Socialist Left Party and the Red Party, as he had announced during Easter. “I have had, and will continue to have, close and regular contact with the red-green party leaders,” he stated.

In a Thursday morning debate on NRK, Vedum dismissed the need for a unified meeting, arguing that cooperation already occurs in parliament. “We do speak to each other on the Storting [Norway’s parliament]. The Storting is composed as it is. The people have elected a quite diverse Storting, and there will be majorities going in different directions,” he said.

The Green Party’s Frøya Skjold Sjursæther countered that better coordination among left-leaning parties is necessary to finalise a revised budget this spring. “If we are to have the opportunity to reach a fully negotiated revised budget, we clearly need better coordination on the red-green side,” she said during a political debate programme.