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Drammen, Norway: No municipality can decide to “only accept refugees from a specific country”
Photo: Baac3nes / Getty Images
Drammen is the fifth largest city in Norway. In a controversial vote, the city council there has now decided to only accept Ukrainian refugees - triggering cross-party outrage. Despite previous warnings from the government in Oslo, the city council of Drammen in the south of the country voted in favor of the controversial measure. Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Störe, who leads a center-left government, spoke of an overstepping of authority. "It's not something that cities can decide," he told the Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
Drammen is only 40 kilometers from the capital Oslo and has 120,000 inhabitants. The mayor belongs to the conservative party, and in the city council there is a majority made up of members of the conservative party, an anti-immigrant right-wing party, the Christian Democrats and a small pensioners' party.
Prime Minister Störe described the city's decision as "not legal." It is a “fundamental value to ensure equal treatment of people on the run.” Erna Solberg, leader of the conservative party, also expressed criticism. No municipality can decide “to only accept refugees from a specific country,” she told the NTB news agency. But it is also not “unusual” to have preferences when it comes to countries of origin. A member of the Norwegian Center Party, which is part of the governing coalition in Oslo, immediately reported the city council to the police for “institutional racism.”
eru/AFP