NO
When Norway decided to send weapons to Ukraine, most people felt it was the right thing to do. The images in Norwegian media were clear: a small democracy fighting for survival against an imperialist neighbour. Support felt like solidarity.
A different picture exists. It is not in the mainstream media. It is a picture of a broken, corrupt, undemocratic system. A government that tortures political prisoners and pacifists. And a war that the majority of Ukrainians want to end – even if that means giving up land.
How We Helped
The foundation of this tragedy was laid long before 2022. Norwegian media told a simple fairy tale of a democratic revolution. But the reality is more complex. American warmongers like John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Victoria Nuland exploited deep divisions in Ukrainian society. Half the country leaned toward Europe. Half toward Russia. Neither side had a critical majority.
Their plan was to bleed Russia, a country they hated so much. With so many people suffering in poverty and without healthcare in the USA, it insults public intelligence to claim they came to help Ukrainians. But that is what media reported.
When a democratically elected president was overthrown by violent minority – whom you don’t need to like – the US and NATO chose a side. They allied themselves with extreme violent fringes of Ukrainian society: neo-Nazi groups who worship Stepan Bandera, a figure whose symbol is the SS Galicia Division. They armed a side that had lost the following elections.
The one candidate who promised to honour the Minsk agreements and keep NATO out of Ukraine? He won on that promise. Then did the opposite. Exactly what his opponents had advocated for and lost elections on.
He Who Became Something Else – Or Was It Pretence From the Start?
As political analyst Glenn Diesen has observed, the man hailed by the New York Times as the new «leader of the free world» has since abandoned his political mandate. He has arrested opponents, purged the media, restricted freedom of religion, cancelled elections, and outsourced decision-making to foreign powers. He bans his own citizens from leaving the country. He is, in effect, an instrument of foreign power.
This is the government our 85 billion kroner supports.
The Brutal Conscription Machine Fuelling a Lost War
The result is not freedom. It is desperation. Two hundred thousand Ukrainian soldiers have gone AWOL. Two million men are dodging draft notices. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men abroad refuse to return. The state cannot compel its citizens to fight at scale. So it has turned to violence.
Men are stopped on the street. Taken to recruitment centres. Sent to the front.
He Said No to War
Yurii Sheliazhenko is a Ukrainian pacifist. A legal scholar. A winner of the Seán MacBride Peace Prize. He is not a Russian agent. He simply believes that killing is wrong.
For this belief, he was taken from a dark street, beaten, pepper sprayed in the eyes, dragged by his hair, and denied medical treatment. A nurse told him to «stuff your Constitution into your back.» His trial is set for May 13.
European governments are now considering forcing Ukrainian refugees to return home. People who escaped helplessness and the tyranny of warlords and profiteers. People whose democratic will was not respected when they voted no to war.
This is what Norwegian money helps make possible.
A Lesson for All Europeans
Yurii’s story is not an anomaly. It is a preview of what is coming to the rest of Europe. Nine EU countries already have conscription today. Germany is screening eighteen-year-olds. France is launching mandatory military service this summer. NATO is demanding five percent of GDP on defence.
The militarism we are funding in Ukraine will come home. The same justifications will be used. The same brutal conscription machinery will be built.
What 85 Billion Could Buy Instead
Thank you again to our warmongering politicians. From Rødt to SV to FrP. And to our media. You never show these pictures. It would expose your choices.
The political party Fred og Rettferdighet (FOR) has shown what 85 billion could buy at home. Seventeen billion would make all public transport free and increase departures significantly. Fourteen billion would give free dental care to everyone. Sixteen billion would cover free kindergarten, after-school care, school meals, and sports and cultural activities for all children and young people.
That totals 47 billion. Leaving 38 billion still available for humanitarian support. Not weapons. Actual help for the people of Ukraine – the same people we claim to help while supporting the worst structures of their society.
A Final Thought
The suffering of Ukrainian families is real. Every day, they lose sons, husbands, and fathers to forced conscription. But perpetuating the war does not honour their sacrifice. It compounds it.
The majority of Ukrainians in Ukraine want peace. Even if that means giving up land. Wars ending with territory lost is not new. It is painful. But forcing another million young men to die for a stalemate serves no one.
The only path to peace is diplomacy. Not more weapons. Not more oil on the fire.
Yurii Sheliazhenko will face his trial next month. His story is not going away. And neither is the question every Norwegian should ask: What did our 85 billion kroner actually buy?
But sending weapons to a country at war is like joining the war. Should we be surprised if we get punched back?