– Norway should express concern – VG

– Now we see that Trump is willing to use undemocratic means to seize power in the United States. I think the Norwegian government should express concern about what is about to start, Eide told VG on Wednesday morning.

The SV representative, who is on the Storting’s justice committee, says he is surprised by Trump’s warning to go to court, when he is still in a position to win the election because the margins are very small and many states are not clear.

– The image is now somewhat confusing, says Eide.

– The election may end in your favor. However, he allows himself to challenge the American electoral system and wants to undermine it if the election goes in his favor. I am very surprised. This is also a great challenge for the Norwegian authorities, who constantly maintain that the United States is Norway’s main ally, he adds.

Internal criticism

Also several allies of Trump in the Republican Party criticize the president’s speech.

– It’s a bad strategic decision. It’s a bad decision politically, says Chris Christie, a former New Jersey governor.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum says he is “deeply concerned” by the president’s comments. Especially the cheating accusations.

– Saying that you think you’ve won, as Biden has done, is one thing. But talking about cheating is disturbing, he tells CNN.

Worrying

Anniken Huitfeldt (Labor Party), chair of the Storting’s Foreign and Defense Committee, is wary of criticizing the US president now:

– I think Norway’s attitude should be like that of elections in other countries: in a democracy, it is the voters who decide. Until all votes have been counted, no one should jump to conclusions, he writes in an SMS to VG.

But Huitfeldt adds:

– If the president believes that the counts should now be canceled and the election should be decided by the Supreme Court, it is worrying.

Keep up good cooperation

In her first remarks after election night in the United States, Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide (H) said that “we look forward to continuing the good cooperation we have with the United States with the person elected as president.”

– As expected, the choice is very even. Now we must be patient and let the democratic processes established to clarify a winner go their own way. The United States is a country with strong institutions and more than 200 years of experience in conducting democratic elections, Eriksen Søreide writes in an email to VG.

NUPI boss: it is not Trump who decides

Ulf Sverdrup, researcher and director of NUPI, says that one must trust that the United States has good procedures for naming a winner after tonight’s presidential election.

– It is not Trump who decides this election, Sverdrup tells VG.

After the president of the United States declared himself the winner of the election on Wednesday morning in a White House speech, Sverdrup says Trump has made a surprisingly good decision, compared to previous opinion polls.

But Sverdrup emphasizes:

– The election has not been decided.

– Many had said in advance that Trump would go to court, although it is fair to do so on the basis that the votes cast should not be counted. But now these processes must go their own way. We must be able to trust that the system is robust and will arrive at the correct result.

Bjørnar Moxnes (Red) believes that Norway must now free itself more from the United States, in a situation where Trump may have four new years as president:

– Norway must now develop an independent foreign policy that makes us less dependent on an increasingly unpredictable and assertive United States, he writes in an email.