Town hall meeting in Tromsø about Norway as the neighbour of a military force

June 14 2022

How has the war in Ukraine changed Norway’s role in the Arctic, in the High North and as a neighbour to Russia? As part of the series ‘Debates about Norway’s Future’, Fritt Ord invites the public to a live-streamed debate at Verdensteatret (the World Theatre) in Tromsø on 14 June.

The event is part of the democracy project entitled Debates about Norway’s Future, a joint effort on the part of Nordlys, Fritt Ord, FERD, Amedia and the Research Council of Norway.

Verdensteatret in Tromsø will be the venue for the evening’s debate, which will also be live-streamed online.

The debate will revolve around Norway’s role as a neighbour of Russia as a military force, and how the war in Europe has changed Norway’s role in the Arctic, in the High North and in its relations with Russia.

You will meet:
- Eirik Kristoffersen, Chief of Defence
- Halvor Tjønn, expert on Russia and former Aftenposten journalist
- Sverre Diesen, former Chief of Defence
- Becky Bakr Abdullah, media consultant at the Norwegian Refugee Council
- Maja Sojtaric, commentator for Nordlys
- Thomas Nilsen, editor-in-chief of the Barents Observer
- Mikkel Founder, group leader for Bergen SV (Socialist Left Party)
- Kari Aga Myklebost, professor at the University of Tromsø

Project Manager Bente Engesland and Editor-in-chief Helge Nitteberg from Nordlys will moderate the discussion, which will be open to questions from the floor.

News

Eirin Larsen and Hadia Tajik join the Fritt Ord Board

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Eirin Larsen (36) and Hadia Tajik (42) bring valuable experience from journalism, technology, politics and jurisprudence to the Fritt Ord Board.

Making the film «Farouk» – on the geologist that secured Norway its oil

July 1 2025

Geologist Farouk Al-Kasim joined the the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate in 1968, shaping Norwegian petroleum resource management for decades afterwards. Now, documentary film director Halkawt Mustafa and producer Janne Hjeltnes are making a film about Al-Kasim’s life and reflections.
“Farouk tells me something in this film that he has not talked about before, because he has always told the version he feels Norway wanted to hear,” recounts Mustafa, who has Iraqi roots himself.

Read the interview with the director and see the list of grants awarded by Fritt Ord in June 2025.

Bård Vegar Solhjell new chair of the Fritt Ord Board

July 1 2025

Bård Vegar Solhjell (53) has taken over as the new chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board.

Cultural newspaper TBATBA.no and new journalism grants – June 2025

June 19 2025

– Cultural journalism is under pressure. Part of the problem is media outlets failing to cover culture in formats and ways that appeal to people under 30, says Ida Madsen Hestman, editor, freelance critic, and founder of TBATBA.no. Last year, she started the kind of publication she herself would want to read.

The magazine TBA is among those awarded funding in June 2025. See the full list of grants in Norsk Journalistikk.