Deputy head of Frogner MDG, Paal J. Frisvold, spoke to voters in Frogner Park on Thursday, when a minibus with top Norwegian diplomats arrived to show their foreign guests the park. The Iranians in the entourage spoke to Frisvold, and explained that they were from Tehran, the capital of Iran. – Then you have a big job to do. You must get rid of the current regime, Frisvold said. But it did not sit well with Norway’s ambassador to Israel, Kåre Aas. “Stop, get away, you can’t talk to these people,” Frisvold claims Ambassador Aas said to him in English. Politician Paal J. Frisvold and three other MDG members were standing in Frognerparken to talk to visitors about the city of Oslo, when they got into a conversation with the entourage from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Photo: Paal J. Frisvold – Damn dung party Frisvold shared the incident, which he believes is “disappointing” and “shocking” on his Facebook page today. At the scene, he was removed from the commentary and went back to the entourage to ask about the kind of behavior he had been subjected to. Many of Frisvold’s friends on Facebook are shocked by what the Foreign Ministry employees said to him in Frognerparken yesterday. He shared the incident with his friends today. Photo: Screenshot Facebook Then director of the section for peace and reconciliation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Lisa Golden, approached him. – She is clearly angry and upset and threatens me by saying: “If you pick up the phone, I will report you to the police!” You are not allowed to take pictures!”, claims Frisvold, who is also a member of MDG’s central board. “By the way, you should think about the reputation of your party, but I’m never going to vote for your damn dung party anyway!”, Frisvold says that the department director said. – You are welcome to call the MDG a dung party, but I have the right to express myself about what I want in Norway, says Frisvold. Kåre R. Aas is Norway’s ambassador to Israel, and was previously ambassador to the USA. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB / NTB Apologized over the phone Director of the Peace and Reconciliation Section, Lisa Golden, called Frisvold herself to apologize for the use of words last night. But the MDG politician believes that it is not just the use of words that is the problem. – The point is that she went far too far. She is so afraid that we will weaken her relationship with a regime that she was willing to compromise with the most important values we have in Norway, says Frisvold. – What we did was democracy in practice. Norway’s role as mediator cannot be above Norwegian democratic values, believes Frisvold, who is still shaken by the incident. – Her behavior was undiplomatic. Ambassador Kåre Aas has not called and apologized. This is an arrogance towards values they are set to promote to the world, says the MDG politician. Neither director Golden nor ambassador Aas has answered news’s inquiries on Thursday. Lisa Golden (far left) is now Director of the Peace and Reconciliation Section in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Here from a meeting on peace negotiations between representatives of the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government from 2002. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB / NTB Regrets the incident Neither Ambassador Aas nor department director Golden will be interviewed, according to communications adviser Mariken Bruusgaard Harbitz at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She writes that the matter is now handled internally in the ministry. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regrets this incident. Our employee has apologized to Frisvold. This is an unfortunate single incident. Protecting and promoting freedom of expression is an important part of our work both at home and abroad.” Also last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs apologized for the behavior of an employee, when a Norwegian diplomat stated that she hated Russians in a hotel in Russia. The episode was filmed.
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MDG member reacts to non-diplomatic behavior of top Norwegian diplomats – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
