On Monday, a Norwegian citizen was arrested at Gardermoen, charged with attempted gross intelligence activities for the benefit of China. news has previously revealed that the man in his 30s is said to have invited contacts to a finer Chinese restaurant in central Oslo. There he is said to have taken the bill, even though he has not been listed with income in Norway from 2016 to 2022. Now general manager Kristin Clemet in Civita confirms that the man has been part of their think tank. – He was a participant at the Civita academy in 2016, she says. Clemet is a former education minister for the Conservative Party and has been a leader in the think tank since 2006. They investigate and analyze various topics and participate in the public debate. They also organize academies and have their own Civita school. The Civita Academy is a course in political philosophy that is organized once or twice a year with 12 to 15 participants. Went on a study trip to Copenhagen He joined a study trip to Copenhagen under the auspices of the academy, and attended four gatherings, according to Civita. Civita advisor Lars Kolbeinstveit. Photo: CF-Wesenberg / Kolonihaven.no Civita adviser Lars Kolbeinstveit helped organize the Civita Academy in 2016. The speakers talked about, among other things, the UN, aid, the environment, the market and refugee policy, according to the agendas for the meetings that news has seen. Kolbeinstveit tells news that he did not particularly notice the accused spy, but that he still remembers him. Ended up on the network list People who have previously participated in a Civita course become part of the Civita alumni group. It was also the person accused of spying. He pleads not guilty and denies that he has been an agent for China. The people who are part of the alumni group are invited to attend exclusive and closed events, such as Civita’s annual summer party. Civita manager Kristin Clemet. Photo: Robert Rønning / Robert Rønning / news After attending the Civita academy in 2016, the Norwegian accused of spying may have attended events at the think tank. Civita does not have a record of how often he may have participated. – He has been invited to certain events, and we know that he has often not turned up. Whether he has ever participated, we currently do not have an overview of, says Clemet. Summer party with the prime minister The network can be a meeting place with other people in key social positions. This applies, among other things, to Civita’s exclusive summer party. Every year, society’s leaders gather in media, politics and academia on the roof terrace of Steen & Strøm in central Oslo. With some bubbles in the glass and nice summer weather, conversations flow freely between the participants. At the summer party this year, among others, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap), Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg and Frp leader Sylvi Listhaug, as well as several in Norway’s political top echelon, participated. But the Norwegian accused of spying did not attend this year’s summer party. Nor had he had the opportunity to participate, despite being a “Civita alumnus”. – No, he was not invited, says Clemet. – In theory, could he have had the opportunity to participate in the summer party this summer? – No. It probably wouldn’t have been possible, since we removed him from our mailing lists before we invited him to the summer party. She refers to a conflict that arose after an international conference in 2022. Civita knows that he has been removed from the lists, but is unsure when he was removed. Should be a volunteer in 2022 In 2022, he signed up as a volunteer for The Mont Pelerin Society, a conference that was started by the liberal economist Fredrick Hayek in 1947. It was organized in 2022 by Civita in Oslo. Clemet says that he did not meet as agreed to be a volunteer employee. – We had a bad experience with him in connection with the conference in 2022, and that meant that he received feedback about it, and that we eventually removed him from our email lists, says Clemet. Lawyer Marius Dietrichson is the accused’s defender. Photo: Tobias Sakrisvold Martinsen / news Siktede’s defender, Marius Dietrichson, tells news that he has no comment on the information. – As for the accused himself, due to the restrictions imposed on him by the court, I am prevented from withholding this information from him and then disseminating his comment on it, he says. Was also in Ap team The Norwegian citizen charged with espionage has been in various networks, according to news’s survey He has been active in a team in the Oslo Labor Party, and last year he was with the party team on a study trip to Germany. The topic was Norwegian-German defense cooperation. On Thursday, news told that the accused spy sat together with Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide as deputy on the board of the local party team. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap). Photo: Hanna Johre / Hanna Johre Oslo Ap informed news that the foreign minister and the man accused of spying have not attended board meetings together in the relevant local team. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not want to comment on the matter and referred to PST. Researcher Anders Romarheim at the Department of Defense Studies told news that the man accused of spying does not need to have access to sensitive information to be interesting for intelligence, and that China wants to recruit widely and long-term. – He is probably interesting to them because he is involved in foreign policy and security policy circles and is young and committed. It is common for intelligence to sow many seeds and hope that people grow into important positions with sensitive information in the long term, Romarheim told news. Researcher Anders Romarheim at the Department of Defense Studies. Photo: Victoria Marie Nordahl / news news states: The journalist who has worked on the case attended the Civita school in 2018. It is a different course to the academy. The Civita School is a course with three sessions for people between the ages of 17 and 20 who are interested in political and social issues. As far as he knows, he has never met those charged with espionage. Published 06.07.2024, at 12.29
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Those charged with espionage ended up in liberal think tank network – were kicked out – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
