– What I definitely cannot rule out is that violence will happen, and I think it will happen, said climate activist Joachim Skahjem to the great shock of his peers on the Debate on news last night. The police security service has nevertheless not changed the threat assessment of the environmental movement in Norway since yesterday. This is confirmed by communication advisor in PST Eirik Veum to news. – You can be as creative as you want. I don’t care if you use Molotov cocktails or matches. The point is that Equinor engages in mass murder supported by the state, people must be allowed to fight against that, Skahjem said on Thursday evening. PST believes the activists will stick to minor offenses such as vandalism and disorderly conduct. – I think the assessment they have for 2022 is correct. But I don’t think it will be right for too many years to come, says Skahjem to news on Friday. He says PST should take the risk of “social unrest” more seriously than they do now, when they make a threat assessment related to the climate fight for the next few years. – But PST would like to believe that it won’t happen, he says. Joachim Skahjem stuck to the wall at the Oil Conference in Stavanger 2022. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit Skahjem does not seem to have had much support in his own organization. On Friday afternoon, it became clear that he is leaving Stopp Oljeletinga. – It was a mutual decision. What we both thought made the most sense when we have a disagreement about which methods should be used in the climate fight, he says to news. TV 2 mentioned this first. Still consider the movement as primarily non-violent PST’s communications director Trond Hugubakken wrote in an email to news ahead of the Debate that they considered the environmental movement as primarily non-violent: Communications director at PST Trond Hugubakken does not believe Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB “Activists linked to climate, environmental and nature conservation issues will primarily use non-violent methods to promote their views, but some will use illegal means such as damage and disorderly conduct. We consider it highly unlikely that activists linked to climate, environmental and nature conservation will attempt to carry out terrorist acts in Norway in the next year.” This assessment has not changed since Skahjem made his statements in the Debate yesterday, says communications adviser Eirik Veum to news on Friday afternoon. He says PST cannot comment on the assessment they make of Joachim Skahjem as an individual. Bellona founder Frederic Hauge was shocked by Joachim Skahjem’s statements about using violence in the climate fight. Points to the potential for radicalization Nevertheless, PST believes that there is a potential for radicalization in the movement: “Climate, environmental and nature conservation issues can, however, be experienced by some as existential threats for which it is urgent to find solutions. The topic therefore has the potential to radicalize individuals.” According to Hugubakken, the security service monitors the different views on drug use. “These questions engage many people both in Norway and internationally. We see that the questions concern people both with and without an ideological anchoring. Support and commitment can therefore be broad, and there will be very different views on the use of means of action.” – It must be taken very seriously Head of the Extremism Commission, Cathrine Thorleifsson, says she thinks Skahjem’s statements in the Debate are dangerous and frightening. Head of the new extremism commission Cathrine Thorleifsson. Photo: Terje Bendiksby / NTB – This shows that radicalization of the climate and environmental movement can take place, comments Thorleifsson. She says this radicalization takes place on the outer edge of the movement. – The vast majority of the climate movement is non-violent. At the same time, you can get individuals or groups on the fringes of this movement who are radicalized against violent extremism. At the same time, Thorleifsson, like PST, believes that there is still no high risk of violent extremism coming from these environments. – But you must take it very seriously that you have an activist who on live TV encourages the use of Molotov cocktails. That is extreme in itself.
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PST does not think climate activists will use violence – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
