Greenland, Eirik Lae Solberg | The Oslo manager despairs: – Very worried

This week, VG told about a report in which the police state that criminals can largely commit crime freely in Greenland in the center of Oslo.

Shop owners talk about violence and threats, and prefer to avoid journalists, writes NRK.

– It’s a mafia situation, says leader of Oslo Handelsstand’s association, Bjørn Næss, to Nettavisen and says that employees do not want the police in and out of the store because they can be perceived as quieter.

– Cannot be accepted

City council leader in Oslo, Eirik Lae Solberg (H), cannot accept that a district is controlled by criminals.

– The descriptions of shop owners and employees testify to a situation we cannot accept. It is very worrying that cases are not being reported for fear of reprisals and we cannot accept that a single part of our city should be controlled by criminals.

Also read: The Greenland violence: – These are mafia situations

As of 1 May, NRK is establishing a separate department for Greenland, as announced in VG. 38 police officers are being moved from other places in Oslo to the department.

– I am very concerned about the development, but have faith that this longer-term investment will lead to improvement in the area. Experience has shown that when the police are present, crime goes down, says Lae Solberg.

– People have known about this and implemented various political measures over a long period of time. What has gone wrong?

– This has been a known problem which has become worse in a very short time. Oslo municipality and the police agree to put in extra effort in priority areas to strengthen security there. I am happy that we are now seeing concrete results from that work, replies the city council leader.

Owned by drug dealers

The municipality has implemented several social measures in the area, including through a project called “SuperGrønland”. The municipality has set up flowers, play stands, benches and created a skate park in the part of Greenland most exposed to drug sales.

They have achieved a lot of good, but have not succeeded in expelling the drug dealers, writes the municipality in an evaluation report of the SuperGrønland project from February 2023.

• “The experience of the police is that it is difficult for people without drug problems to stay in the area. The area is largely “owned” by the drug dealers. In addition, several of the drug dealers are associated with criminal networks that have little respect for the police who work in the area. This entails threats, harassment and obstruction of the police’s work,” the report states.

– You don’t solve these problems by building a skate park, says FpU leader Simen Velle to Nettavisen.

Velle recently announced that he is running as a parliamentary candidate in Oslo, and hopes to get on the Progress Party’s list. He immediately highlighted crime when he launched his candidacy.

– There are over 500 newly trained police officers in this country who have not got a job in the police. They should be out on Oslo’s streets pretty quickly, he tells Nettavisen about the situation in Greenland.

The FpU leader believes it is high time that the politicians take the situation seriously.

– The Progress Party has warned against this for a long time, and it is high time that the rest of the political landscape understands how wrong we have stepped.