– Understands how much is at stake – VG
City councilor Raymond Johansen (Ap) warns that countries have “enough with themselves” after visiting Ukraine. – Norway is not an island, and Oslo is not an island, he says.
– All countries in Europe must sacrifice something for Ukraine’s freedom. We also have to sacrifice something.
This is what Oslo city council leader Raymond Johansen says on the phone to VG from the bus from Ukraine to Poland.
– I understand that it sounds like platitudes, but this is a litmus test of how high we set our values, and that nothing is won once and for all, Johansen continues.
On Friday, the city council leader visited Ukraine and met the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyj, together with seven European mayors.
He also visited the cities of Borodyanka, Buts and Irpin which have experienced great destruction.
Will help with reconstruction
In addition, the city council leader met Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko, who, according to Johansen, said he was afraid that the war would receive less attention from other European countries.
The trip has given Raymond Johansen a new understanding of the seriousness of war.
– You understand how much is at stake, also for our lives. Imagine that an aggressor, our neighbor, should enter and be allowed to take land. You almost have to be there to appreciate the seriousness, he says.
Johansen is a board member of the organization Eurocities, with 200 European cities. During the meeting, they signed an agreement to contribute to reconstruction after the war.
– The Ukrainians are concerned that people should return, and then they must have something to return to, says Johansen.
Oslo municipality, like the other cities, must make concrete plans for how they can help Ukraine with the reconstruction of houses, kindergartens, schools, sewage systems and other municipal infrastructure.
I think the electricity price focus can lead to division
Now he and the seven European mayors are on their way home, and the debate about electricity prices is high on the agenda for many.
– The strong focus on energy and electricity prices affects the whole of Europe, and it can lead to division and that we are less tough on Putin, he says, citing Italy as an example.
There, the far-right party Italy’s Brothers is likely to win the election, and with it get the country’s first radical right-wing prime minister since the Second World War.
– Do you experience the electricity debate in Norway as trivial?
– Compared to this, of course. Most things are trivial when we can lose our freedom, says Johansen.
– It is also big enough for those who experience high electricity and food prices as serious, but there is a country that has the muscle to sort it out, and that is Norway, he adds.
Warns against having “enough with yourself”
The Oslo city council leader warns that the nation-states end up having “enough with themselves”, and thus do not give any support to Ukraine.
– Many national leaders around Europe are now red for losing elections to populists due to high electricity prices, fuel prices, food prices and rent increases. In the worst case, it could go beyond the willingness to support the Ukrainians’ struggle with money and weapons, he says and adds:
– I am afraid of easy populism and nationalism, and that it will characterize all debates. I am terrified of that, both right-wing and left-wing populism in Norway and elsewhere, says Johansen.
– You mentioned Italy, but is the debate like that in Norway?
– Fortunately, we are not at the level of Italy, but to think that the situation in Europe will not affect us is very naive. It’s just bullshit. Norway is not an island, and Oslo is not an island.
Also read: Advocating against shutting down electricity exports to Europe: – Norway does not want to be prime minister
Volodymyr Zelenskyj has commented on the visit on his Telegram account.
– Thank you to European cities for welcoming our people who have fled the war. We will also be grateful for help in restoring housing, infrastructure and conditions for the return of Ukrainians. It is important that the reconstruction starts now, not after the war, the president wrote on Friday evening.