Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland has apologized to the indigenous Sami people for the construction of wind turbines on reindeer pastures, which eco-activists have been rallying against since the beginning of the week, media reported Thursday
MURMANSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd March, 2023) Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland has apologized to the indigenous Sami people for the construction of wind turbines on reindeer pastures, which eco-activists have been rallying against since the beginning of the week, media reported Thursday.
Aasland met with Sami Parliament President Silje Karine Muotka Thursday afternoon to discuss the situation with wind turbines built in the area where the Sami herd reindeer, the NRK broadcaster reported.
The minister apologized on behalf of the government that the situation with the turbine generators happen to involve human rights violations, noting that the issue had long been complicated and intractable, the report read.
Muotka responded that an apology was crucial for the Sami people to move forward, according to the report.
Since the beginning of the week, a large-scale protest has been taking place in Oslo's government quarter. Eco-activists and members of the Sami community have blocked the entrances to several ministries to protest the wind turbines construction. On Thursday, 12 people were reportedly detained, but by the time the minister met with the Sami parliament president, they had all been released.
In 2021, Norway's Supreme Court ruled that two wind farms on reindeer pastures violated the rights of the indigenous Sami people. The Sami claimed that the noise made by the installations frightened the animals and demanded that the turbines be removed, according to media reports. The Norwegian government, however, said that despite the Supreme Court decision, the final fate of the wind farms was a complicated legal and political issue, expressing hope to find a compromise.
The Sami, an indigenous minority of about 100,000 people living in northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, has traditionally lived off reindeer herding and fishing.
