The Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights , or simply Oslo Center , is a nongovernmental organization founded by former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik in January 2006. The purpose of the center is to work for world peace , human rights and inter-religious tolerance worldwide. The center cooperates closely with the Carter Center in Atlanta , the Kim Dae Jung Library in Seoul and the Crisis Management Initiative in Helsinki .
75-415: Shortly after the announced opening of The Oslo Center, Bondevik told Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten , that the center would focus primarily on negotiations between governments and take on the role as a peace mediator in conflict areas around the world. He also said that the center would work closely with western governments and international human rights organizations and take advantage of
150-678: A per-capita basis, Norway is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas outside of the Middle East. The country has the fourth- and eighth-highest per-capita income in the world on the World Bank 's and IMF 's list, respectively. It has the world's largest sovereign wealth fund , with a value of US$ 1.3 trillion. Norway has two official names: Norge in Bokmål and Noreg in Nynorsk . The English name Norway comes from
225-590: A resistance movement which incorporated civil disobedience and armed resistance including the destruction of Norsk Hydro 's heavy water plant and stockpile of heavy water at Vemork , which crippled the German nuclear programme . More important to the Allied war effort, however, was the role of the Norwegian Merchant Marine , the fourth-largest merchant marine fleet in the world. It was led by
300-581: A " 68'er ", and that he was "influenced by the radical wind of the time". While he remained in the movement of Young Christian Democrats (Norway, KrFU) , he claims to have "radicalized the organization to great despair in the party". He has also said that he would likely rather have "oriented" himself towards the Socialist People's Party , had his radicalization of the Christian Democratic Party not gone through. Representing
375-559: A cash payment of 704,000 NOK from the government of Bahrain in an e-mail, with Bondevik as one of the carbon-copied (CC) recipients. "A month later, Bondevik and Sheikh handed out an 'honorary prize' to representatives of Bahrain's prime minister," the newspaper wrote. Bondevik was awarded the Grand Cross of St. Olav in 2004, the first sitting Norwegian Prime Minister to receive the Order of St. Olav in 80 years. The award happened due to
450-521: A central role in the peaceful separation of Norway from Sweden on 7 June 1905. A national referendum confirmed the people's preference for a monarchy over a republic. However, no Norwegian could legitimately claim the throne, since none of Norway's noble families could claim royal descent . The government then offered the throne of Norway to Prince Carl of Denmark, a prince of the Dano-German royal house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and
525-656: A change in the Statutes of the Order with automatic awards to the prime minister and Ministers of the Government that stirred some debate and criticism. With the succeeding Stoltenberg Government , the practice was halted. He is a full member of the Club de Madrid , a group of former leaders of democratic states that works to strengthen democratic governance and leadership. Bondevik is an Honorary Member of The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation . In 2009, Bondevik
600-458: A conservative society. Life in Norway (especially economic life) was "dominated by the aristocracy of professional men who filled most of the important posts in the central government". There was no strong bourgeois class to demand a breakdown of this aristocratic control. Thus, even while revolution swept over most of the countries of Europe in 1848, Norway was largely unaffected. Marcus Thrane
675-546: A diplomatic visit to Iran he had made in 2014. In 2022, it was revealed that Bondevik had published a glowing appraisal of Kazakhstan in the Norwegian daily newspaper Vårt Land after receiving cash payments from the government of Kazakhstan. Earlier, in 2021, the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet had revealed that one of Bondevik's colleagues, the Conservative Party politician Aamir J. Sheikh, had requested
750-665: A distant relative of Norway's medieval kings. Following the plebiscite, he was unanimously elected king by the Norwegian Parliament ; he took the name Haakon VII . Throughout the First World War , Norway remained neutral; however, diplomatic pressure from the British government meant that it heavily favoured the Allies . During the war, Norway exported fish to both Germany and Britain, until an ultimatum from
825-457: A distinct national character. The movement covered all branches of culture, including literature ( Henrik Wergeland , Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson , Peter Christen Asbjørnsen , Jørgen Moe ), painting ( Hans Gude , Adolph Tidemand ), music ( Edvard Grieg ), and even language policy, where attempts to define a native written language for Norway led to today's two official written forms for Norwegian: Bokmål and Nynorsk . King Charles III John came to
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#1732766246015900-621: A long eastern border with Sweden , and is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast. Norway has an extensive coastline facing the Skagerrak strait, the North Atlantic Ocean, and the Barents Sea . The unified kingdom of Norway was established in 872 as a merger of petty kingdoms and has existed continuously for 1,151–1,152 years. From 1537 to 1814, Norway was part of Denmark–Norway , and, from 1814 to 1905, it
975-634: A small group had left Norway following their king to Britain. This group included 13 ships, five aircraft, and 500 men from the Royal Norwegian Navy. By the end of the war, the force had grown to 58 ships and 7,500 men in service in the Royal Norwegian Navy, 5 squadrons of aircraft in the newly formed Norwegian Air Force, and land forces including the Norwegian Independent Company 1 and 5 Troop as well as No. 10 Commandos . During German occupation , Norwegians built
1050-686: A union between the two countries. In 1397, under Margaret I , the Kalmar Union was created between the three Scandinavian countries. She waged war against the Germans, resulting in a trade blockade and higher taxation on Norwegian goods, which led to a rebellion . However, the Norwegian Council of State was too weak to pull out of the union. Margaret pursued a centralising policy which inevitably favoured Denmark because of its greater population. Margaret also granted trade privileges to
1125-634: A united Norway. Harald's realm was mainly a South Norwegian coastal state. Fairhair ruled with a strong hand and according to the sagas, many Norwegians left the country to live in Iceland, the Faroe Islands , Greenland , and parts of Britain and Ireland. Haakon I the Good was Norway's first Christian king, in the mid-10th century, though his attempt to introduce the religion was rejected. Norse traditions were replaced slowly by Christian ones in
1200-548: Is a Norwegian Lutheran minister and politician . As leader of the Christian Democratic Party , he served as the 33rd prime minister of Norway from 1997 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2005, making him, after Erna Solberg , Norway's second longest serving non- Labour Party prime minister since World War II. Currently, Bondevik is president of the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights . Bondevik
1275-454: Is little archaeological evidence dating to the early Iron Age (the last 500 years BC). The dead were cremated, and their graves contained few goods. During the first four centuries AD, the people of Norway were in contact with Roman-occupied Gaul ; about 70 Roman bronze cauldrons, often used as burial urns, have been found. Contact with countries farther south brought a knowledge of runes ; the oldest known Norwegian runic inscription dates from
1350-584: The Christian Democratic Party , the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party , which took office on 19 October 2001. The second Bondevik government carried out reforms and left a booming economy; however, Bondevik was defeated in the 2005 parliamentary election , with 81 seats obtained for Bondevik's coalition and its supporters to the opposition Red-Green Coalition 's 88. Bondevik announced his retirement from national-level politics at
1425-621: The Crisis Management Initiative in Helsinki . On 31 October 2006, he published his memoir, called Et liv i spenning ( A life of excitement and tension ). On 31 January 2017, he was the first high-ranking politician from another country detained and questioned in the United States as a result of President Donald Trump 's executive orders banning immigration from seven predominantly Muslim nations, because of
1500-1117: The European Union and the United States . Norway is a founding member of the United Nations , NATO , the European Free Trade Association , the Council of Europe , the Antarctic Treaty , and the Nordic Council ; a member of the European Economic Area , the WTO , and the OECD ; and a part of the Schengen Area . The Norwegian dialects share mutual intelligibility with Danish and Swedish . Norway maintains
1575-527: The German invasion of France . King Haakon and the Norwegian government escaped to Rotherhithe in London. Throughout the war they sent radio speeches and supported clandestine military actions against the Germans. On the day of the invasion, the leader of the small National-Socialist party Nasjonal Samling , Vidkun Quisling , tried to seize power, but was forced by the German occupiers to step aside. Real power
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#17327662460151650-485: The Labour Party held an absolute majority in the parliament. The government, led by prime minister Einar Gerhardsen , embarked on a programme inspired by Keynesian economics , emphasising state financed industrialisation and co-operation between trade unions and employers' organisations . Many measures of state control of the economy imposed during the war were continued, although the rationing of dairy products
1725-483: The Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system, and its values are rooted in egalitarian ideals. The Norwegian state has large ownership positions in key industrial sectors, having extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, and fresh water. The petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). On
1800-593: The Old English word Norþweg mentioned in 880, meaning "northern way" or "way leading to the north", which is how the Anglo-Saxons referred to the coastline of Atlantic Norway. The Anglo-Saxons of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land . There is some disagreement about whether the native name of Norway originally had the same etymology as the English form. According to
1875-532: The Syttende mai (Seventeenth of May) holiday. Norwegian opposition to the decision to link Norway with Sweden caused the Norwegian–Swedish War to break out as Sweden tried to subdue Norway by military means. As Sweden's military was not strong enough to defeat the Norwegian forces outright, and Norway's treasury was not large enough to support a protracted war, and as British and Russian navies blockaded
1950-585: The archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of Norway. Bouvet Island , located in the Subantarctic , is a dependency , and not a part of the Kingdom; Norway also claims the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land . The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo . Norway has a total area of 385,207 square kilometres (148,729 sq mi). The country shares
2025-587: The introduction of Protestantism in 1536, the archbishopric in Trondheim was dissolved; Norway lost its independence and effectually became a colony of Denmark. The Church's incomes and possessions were instead redirected to the court in Copenhagen. Norway lost the steady stream of pilgrims to the relics of St. Olav at the Nidaros shrine, and with them, much of the contact with cultural and economic life in
2100-523: The parliament , the cabinet , and the supreme court , as determined by the 1814 constitution . Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels: counties and municipalities . The Sámi people have a certain amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament and the Finnmark Act . Norway maintains close ties with
2175-474: The union with Sweden . Under this arrangement, Norway kept its liberal constitution and its own independent institutions, though it shared a monarch and foreign policy with Sweden. Following the recession caused by the Napoleonic Wars , economic development of Norway remained slow until 1830. This period also saw the rise of Norwegian romantic nationalism , as Norwegians sought to define and express
2250-602: The British government and anti-German sentiments as a result of German submarines targeting Norwegian merchantmen led to a termination of trade with Germany. 436 Norwegian merchantmen were sunk by the Kaiserliche Marine , with 1,150 Norwegian sailors killed. Norway once more proclaimed its neutrality during the Second World War , but was invaded by German forces on 9 April 1940. Although Norway
2325-717: The Christian Democratic Party, Bondevik was a member of the Storting (Parliament) from 1973 to 2005. He was his party's parliamentary leader in the periods of 1981–1983, 1986–1989, 1993–1997, 1997, and 2000–2001, and party leader from 1983 to 1995. In this position, he was succeeded by Valgerd Svarstad Haugland . He was also Minister of Foreign Affairs in Jan P. Syse 's government of 1989–1990, Minister of Church and Education in Kåre Willoch 's government 1983–1986, also Prime Minister Willoch's deputy 1985–1986, and state secretary at
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2400-693: The Danish kingdom was on the losing side in 1814, it was forced by the Treaty of Kiel to cede Norway to Sweden, while the old Norwegian provinces of Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands remained with the Danish crown. Norway took this opportunity to declare independence, adopted a constitution based on American and French models, and elected the Crown Prince of Denmark and Norway, Christian Frederick , as king on 17 May 1814 – celebrated as
2475-569: The Hanseatic merchants of Lübeck in Bergen in return for recognition of her rule, and these hurt the Norwegian economy. The Hanseatic merchants formed a state within a state in Bergen for generations. The " Victual Brothers " launched three devastating pirate raids on the port (the last in 1427). Norway slipped ever more to the background under the Oldenburg dynasty (established 1448). There
2550-591: The Norwegian coast, the belligerents were forced to negotiate the Convention of Moss . Christian Frederik abdicated the Norwegian throne and authorised the Parliament of Norway to make the necessary constitutional amendments to allow for the personal union that Norway was forced to accept. On 4 November 1814, the Parliament (Storting) elected Charles XIII of Sweden as king of Norway, thereby establishing
2625-617: The Norwegian shipping company Nortraship under the Allies throughout the war and took part in every war operation from the evacuation of Dunkirk to the Normandy landings . Every December Norway gives a Christmas tree to the United Kingdom as thanks for the British assistance during the war. Svalbard was not occupied by German troops, but Germany secretly established a meteorological station there in 1944. From 1945 to 1962,
2700-646: The Office of the Prime Minister during Lars Korvald 's government 1972–1973. Bondevik's first term as prime minister lasted from 17 October 1997 to 3 March 2000, in a coalition cabinet consisting of the Christian Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party . While serving his first term as prime minister, Bondevik attracted international attention in August 1998 when he announced that he
2775-622: The Saudi Arabian government, between the years 2019-2021. The following year, the Norwegian newspaper Vårt Land disclosed that Bondevik had received an undisclosed amount to write a favorable op-ed piece in their pages earlier in 2022, praising the government of Kazakhstan. This drew ire due to the increasingly authoritarian handling of protests in Kazakhstan that same year. Kjell Magne Bondevik received criticism from both political commentators and newspapers when he informed
2850-591: The coast, where the huge ice shelf of the last ice age first melted between 11,000 and 8000 BC. The oldest finds are stone tools dating from 9500 to 6000 BC, discovered in Finnmark ( Komsa culture ) in the north and Rogaland ( Fosna culture ) in the southwest. Theories about the two cultures being separate were deemed obsolete in the 1970s. Between 3000 and 2500 BC, new settlers ( Corded Ware culture ) arrived in eastern Norway . They were Indo-European farmers who grew grain and kept livestock, and gradually replaced
2925-486: The control of Queen Margaret when the country entered into the Kalmar Union . After Sweden broke out of the Kalmar Union in 1521, Norway tried to follow suit, but the subsequent rebellion was defeated, and Norway remained in a union with Denmark until 1814. This period was by some referred to as the "400-Year Night", since all of the kingdom's intellectual and administrative power was centred in Copenhagen . With
3000-476: The death of Haakon in 1379, his 10-year-old son Olaf IV acceded to the throne. As Olaf had already been elected to the throne of Denmark in 1376, Denmark and Norway entered a personal union . Olaf's mother and Haakon's widow, Queen Margaret, managed the foreign affairs of Denmark and Norway during Olaf's minority. Margaret was on the verge of achieving a union of Sweden with Denmark and Norway when Olaf IV suddenly died. Denmark made Margaret temporary ruler on
3075-434: The death of Olaf. On 2 February 1388, Norway followed suit and crowned Margaret. Queen Margaret knew that her power would be more secure if she were able to find a king to rule in her place. She settled on Eric of Pomerania , grandson of her sister. Thus at an all-Scandinavian meeting held at Kalmar, Erik of Pomerania was crowned king of all three Scandinavian countries, bringing the thrones of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden under
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3150-490: The economy, because of the loans the Hansa had made to the royals and the large debt the kings were carrying. The League's monopolistic control over the economy of Norway put pressure on all classes, especially the peasantry, to the degree that no real burgher class existed in Norway. From the 1040s to 1130, the country was at peace. In 1130, the civil war era broke out on the basis of unclear succession laws , which allowed
3225-699: The end of his term as prime minister, and did not seek re-election for his seat in parliament. The Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights was founded by Bondevik in January 2006. The purpose of the centre is to work for world peace , human rights and inter-religious tolerance worldwide. The centre cooperates closely with the Carter Center in Atlanta , the Kim Dae Jung Library in Seoul and
3300-500: The end of the century. Throughout the High Middle Ages , the king established Norway as a sovereign state with a central administration and local representatives. In 1349, the Black Death spread to Norway and within a year killed a third of the population. Later plagues reduced the population to half the starting point by 1400. Many communities were entirely wiped out, resulting in an abundance of land, allowing farmers to switch to more animal husbandry . The reduction in taxes weakened
3375-423: The expense of Sweden and Russia. The famine of 1695–1696 killed roughly 10% of Norway's population. The harvest failed in Scandinavia at least nine times between 1740 and 1800, with great loss of life. After Denmark–Norway was attacked by the United Kingdom at the 1807 Battle of Copenhagen , it entered into an alliance with Napoleon , with the war leading to dire conditions and mass starvation in 1812. As
3450-468: The experience had been positive overall, both for himself and because it made mental illness more publicly acceptable. Bondevik's first cabinet resigned after losing a confidence vote in March 2000 as a result of a dispute over the construction of gas-fired power stations and was replaced by a Labour Party government led by Jens Stoltenberg until their defeat in the 2001 parliamentary election . Bondevik then formed his second cabinet , consisting of
3525-425: The funds given to the center came without any strings attached. He also went on record to say that securing donations from private companies and businesses was in his opinion a positive thing, and he encouraged other humanitarian organizations to do the same. Kjell Magne Bondevik Kjell Magne Bondevik ( Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈçɛlː ˈmɑ̀ŋnə ˈbʊ̀nːəviːk] ; born 3 September 1947)
3600-438: The hunting-fishing population of the west coast. From about 1500 BC, bronze was gradually introduced. Burial cairns built close to the sea as far north as Harstad and also inland in the south are characteristic of this period, with rock carving motifs that differ from those of the Stone Age , depicting ships resembling the Hjortspring boat , while large stone burial monuments known as stone ships were also erected. There
3675-433: The king's position, and many aristocrats lost the basis for their surplus. High tithes to church made it increasingly powerful and the archbishop became a member of the Council of State . The Hanseatic League took control over Norwegian trade during the 14th century and established a trading centre in Bergen . In 1380, Olaf Haakonsson inherited both the Norwegian (as Olaf IV) and Danish thrones (as Olaf II), creating
3750-419: The king's sons to rule jointly. The Archdiocese of Nidaros was created in 1152 and attempted to control the appointment of kings. The church inevitably had to take sides in the conflicts. The wars ended in 1217 with the appointment of Håkon IV Håkonsson , who introduced clear laws of succession. From 1000 to 1300, the population increased from 150,000 to 400,000, resulting both in more land being cleared and
3825-437: The kings of Sweden and of Denmark were elected to the throne by their respective nobles. Thus Sweden and Norway were united under King Magnus VII. In 1349, the Black Death killed between 50% and 60% of Norway's population and led to a period of social and economic decline. Although the death rate was comparable with the rest of Europe, economic recovery took much longer because of the small, scattered population. Even before
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#17327662460153900-409: The late 10th and early 11th centuries. This is largely attributed to the missionary kings Olaf I Tryggvasson and Olaf II Haraldsson (St. Olaf). Olaf Tryggvasson conducted raids in England, including attacking London. Arriving back in Norway in 995, Olaf landed in Moster where he built a church which became the first Christian church in Norway. From Moster, Olaf sailed north to Trondheim where he
3975-435: The media about the new center. The recurring theme in this criticism was that Bondevik was using his political status to gain an unfair advantage for himself and his new center. Some commentators also felt that it was inappropriate for a recently retired prime minister to accept large sums of money from both the Government and the Norwegian business community, which up until that moment had benefitted from his politics. This
4050-410: The ninth century when heading for the Faroe Islands , and eventually came across Vinland , known today as Newfoundland , in Canada. The Vikings from Norway were most active in the northern and western British Isles and eastern North America isles . According to tradition, Harald Fairhair unified them into one in 872 after the Battle of Hafrsfjord in Stavanger , thus becoming the first king of
4125-409: The official webpage , the center had enough funds from various Norwegian businesses and corporations in 2007 to keep it up and running for the following five years. The budget for 2007 was 10.5 million Norwegian krones . In 2021, the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet reported that Bondevik personally received 5 million NOK (around 560,000 USD) from Muslim World League, an NGO with close connections to
4200-440: The plague, the population was only about 500,000. After the plague, many farms lay idle while the population slowly increased. However, the few surviving farms' tenants found their bargaining positions with their landlords greatly strengthened. King Magnus VII ruled Norway until 1350, when his son, Haakon, was placed on the throne as Haakon VI . In 1363, Haakon married Margaret , daughter of King Valdemar IV of Denmark . Upon
4275-489: The reign of Charles III John brought some significant social and political reforms. In 1854, women won the right to inherit property. In 1863, the last trace of keeping unmarried women in the status of minors was removed. Furthermore, women were eligible for different occupations, particularly the common school teacher. By mid-century, Norway's democracy was limited; voting was limited to officials, property owners, leaseholders and burghers of incorporated towns. Norway remained
4350-418: The rest of Europe. Eventually restored as a kingdom (albeit in legislative union with Denmark) in 1661, Norway saw its land area decrease in the 17th century with the loss of the provinces Båhuslen , Jemtland , and Herjedalen to Sweden, as the result of a number of disastrous wars with Sweden. In the north, its territory was increased by the acquisition of the northern provinces of Troms and Finnmark , at
4425-419: The subdivision of farms. While in the Viking Age farmers owned their own land, by 1300, seventy per cent of the land was owned by the king, the church, or the aristocracy, and about twenty per cent of yields went to these landowners. The 14th century is described as Norway's golden age , with peace and increase in trade, especially with the British Islands, although Germany became increasingly important towards
4500-465: The third century. By the time of the first historical records of Scandinavia, about the 8th century, several small political entities existed in Norway. It has been estimated that there were nine petty realms in Western Norway during the early Viking Age . Archaeologist Bergljot Solberg on this basis estimates that there would have been at least 20 in the whole country. In the Viking period, Norwegian Viking explorers discovered Iceland by accident in
4575-452: The throne of Norway and Sweden in 1818 and reigned to 1844. He protected the constitution and liberties of Norway and Sweden during the age of Metternich . As such, he was regarded as a liberal monarch. However, he was ruthless in his use of paid informers, secret police and restrictions on the freedom of the press to put down public movements for reform—especially the Norwegian national independence movement. The Romantic Era that followed
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#17327662460154650-446: The traditional dominant view, the first component was originally norðr , a cognate of English north , so the full name was Norðr vegr , "the way northwards", referring to the sailing route along the Norwegian coast, and contrasting with suðrvegar "southern way" (from Old Norse suðr ) for (Germany), and austrvegr "eastern way" (from austr ) for the Baltic . The earliest traces of human occupation in Norway are found along
4725-408: The vast political networks that its members, all former politicians and bureaucrats , had built up over the years. The center has eight full time staff members, all of whom are former Norwegian politicians and bureaucrats, and three part time staff members. The Oslo Center is a non-profit organization and as a consequence relies solely upon donations from the general public . According to
4800-577: Was a Utopian socialist who in 1848 organised a labour society in Drammen . In just a few months, this society had a membership of 500 and was publishing its own newspaper. Within two years, 300 societies had been organised all over Norway, with a total membership of 20,000 drawn from the lower classes of both urban and rural areas. In the end, the revolt was easily crushed; Thrane was captured and jailed. In 1898, all men were granted universal suffrage , followed by all women in 1913. Christian Michelsen , Prime Minister of Norway from 1905 to 1907, played
4875-403: Was a private peace center, or whether it was under the auspices of the Norwegian Government. In an interview given to Norwegian newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad , on 30 January 2006, Bondevik responded to some of the recent criticism that had been directed against him. In this interview he defended his actions and assured his critics that he had done nothing wrong. He also made it clear that
4950-402: Was awarded an honorary degree from the University of San Francisco . Norway in Europe (green and dark grey) Norway ( Bokmål : Norge , Nynorsk : Noreg ), officially the Kingdom of Norway , is a Nordic country in Northern Europe , situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula with a population of 5.5 million as of 2024. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and
5025-402: Was born in Molde , the son of Johannes Bondevik, a principal at the Christian folk high school Rauma folkehøyskole who also was a local politician for the Christian Democratic Party, and Margit, née Hæreid. He became a theological candidate from MF Norwegian School of Theology in 1975. As Bondevik was active in Norwegian politics at a young age, he did not serve in the military. In 1979, he
5100-449: Was in a personal union with Sweden. Norway was neutral during the First World War , and in the Second World War until April 1940 when it was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany until the end of the war. Harald V of the House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway . Jonas Gahr Støre has been Prime Minister of Norway since 2021. As a unitary state with a constitutional monarchy , Norway divides state power between
5175-408: Was one revolt under Knut Alvsson in 1502. Norway took no part in the events which led to Swedish independence from Denmark in the 1520s. Upon the death of King Haakon V in 1319, Magnus Eriksson , at just three years old, inherited the throne as King Magnus VII. A simultaneous movement to make Magnus King of Sweden proved successful (he was a grandson of King Magnus Ladulås of Sweden), and both
5250-425: Was ordained as pastor in the (Lutheran) Church of Norway . He is married to Bjørg Bondevik (née Rasmussen) and has three children: Bjørn (born 1972), Hildegunn (born 1973), and John Harald (born 1976). Kjell Magne Bondevik is the nephew of politician Kjell Bondevik , the cousin of former bishop Odd Bondevik and brother in law of author and priest Eyvind Skeie . In 2008, Bondevik said that he regards himself as
5325-518: Was proclaimed King of Norway by the Eyrathing in 995. One of the most important sources for the history of the 11th century Vikings is the treaty between the Icelanders and Olaf II Haraldsson, king of Norway circa 1015 to 1028. Feudalism never really developed in Norway or Sweden, as it did in the rest of Europe. However, the administration of government took on a very conservative feudal character. The Hanseatic League forced royalty to cede to them greater and greater concessions over foreign trade and
5400-405: Was suffering from depressive episode , becoming the highest ranking world leader to admit to suffering from a mental illness while in office. Upon this revelation, Anne Enger became acting prime minister for three weeks, from 30 August to 23 September, while he recovered from the depressive episode. Bondevik then returned to office. Bondevik received thousands of supportive letters, and said that
5475-455: Was unprepared for the German surprise attack (see: Battle of Drøbak Sound , Norwegian Campaign , and Invasion of Norway ), military and naval resistance lasted for two months. Norwegian armed forces in the north launched an offensive against the German forces in the Battles of Narvik , but were forced to surrender on 10 June after losing British support which had been diverted to France during
5550-533: Was viewed by some as nepotism . Bondevik was also criticized for selecting President of the Norwegian Parliament , Thorbjørn Jagland , as chairman of the board for the new center. Jagland, also received massive criticism for allowing Bondevik, a retired politician, to announce the opening of the centre in Jagland's Parliament office. Some felt that this raised serious doubts as to whether this
5625-582: Was wielded by the leader of the German occupation authority, Josef Terboven . Quisling, as minister president , later formed a collaborationist government under German control . Up to 15,000 Norwegians volunteered to fight in German units, including the Waffen-SS . Many Norwegians and persons of Norwegian descent joined the Allied forces as well as the Free Norwegian Forces . In June 1940,
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