Norwy

No, I haven't misspelled 'Norway' - I've spelt it the Welsh way, think of my blog as a very long Welsh lesson. Anyway, why a post on Norway? Surprisingly, this has nothing to do with Eurovision but does have a lot to do with this BBC report. The report is about the trial of Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian man who ruthlessly murdered 77 people. 8 people died in an explosion in Oslo after Breivik planted a bomb outside the Norwegian Prime Minister's office and, following this, Breivik travelled to the small island of Utøya where the Labour Party youth wing were at camp, disguised as a policeman. There, he shot the island hostess and a security guard before summoning campers to stand around him under the pretence that he was there to talk about the Oslo bombing. He opened fire on those who surrounded him, on those who ran away from him and later on those who attempted to swim away from the island. Breivik killed 69 people in all on Utøya on 22 July 2011. A further 319 people were injured.


I remember when I first saw the news, I couldn't sleep so I was up all night and I first saw the report on BBC News early in the morning. Of course I was totally shocked, no one expects this kind of travesty to occur in Norway, credited as a very tolerant country, but I was also surprised at the lack of reactions from people online, mainly on Facebook. The vast majority of Facebookers seemed much more concerned about the death of Amy Winehouse, and while any death is tragic, I felt a bit uncomfortable that so many people were so concerned and apparently upset with her death and completely unaffected and in many cases oblivious to the travesties in Norway, the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II, and on average 1 in 4 Norwegians knew a victim affected by the attacks. I am NOT saying that Winehouse shouldn't be mourned and that her death wasn't notable, what I'm saying is that I was slightly annoyed that her death was very heavily publicised and seemingly more important than the deaths of 69 Norwegians. 


Breivik has confessed to the crime and wants his day in court. He says he committed these crimes (and would do so again) because he is "on a mission to save Norway and Europe from being taken over by Islam." This notion is, of course, ridiculous. I like to think that Europe, and members of the EU especially (Norway is not a member of the EU, but is practically tied into it), is home to very tolerant governments and tolerant people, the best in the world - save for the odd xenophobe here and there. However, several countries in Europe have small but loud right-wing extremists even in countries where you may not expect them, such as in Norway or Finland. I have long thought and made clear that the Nordic countries are leading examples in many things: democracy, the economy, healthcare, education, international relations, etc and it's about time people started following their example. Having said that, I really do hope that the Nords stay true to who they are and fail to allow people like Breivik to change them. I don't think they will change, and that they will remain the leaders in the things I have mentioned  and so I hope that one day governments, like that of the UK, realise that they are no longer 'the envy of the world' but are years behind our Nordic friends.


Breivik's trial begins 16 April 2012 and is expected to end June 22, 2012. The trial is expected to cost £10 million (€12.1m), a price worth paying for the Norwegians to get the answers they desperately want and to put a dangerously volatile man away for life.


This is my first foray into current affairs, and everything above is of course MY OPINION. If you agree or disagree with anything do feel free to comment and I will be more than happy to reply :)
Diolch am ddarllen!