The Norwegian government has issued an apology to reindeer herders after activists staged a week-long protest against a wind farm they claim infringes on the rights of the indigenous Sami
people in central and Arctic Norway. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland apologized on behalf of the government and acknowledged that the reindeer owners had been in a difficult and unclear situation for a long time. Aasland did not announce a resolution to the wind farm dispute but said that no solutions were being ruled out at this time.
Silje Karine Mutoka, the speaker of the 39-seat Sami Parliament, met with Aasland and stated that receiving an apology had been "a wish from my side." Mutoka stressed the importance of moving forward and acknowledging that they were dealing with a human rights violation. She is also set to meet next week with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who had planned to visit northern Norway before the protests began.
The activists, who were mainly teenagers, started their protest a week ago and have blocked the entrance to several ministries in Oslo, the capital of Norway, since Monday. On Thursday, police removed activists from the finance and culture ministries, while others sang a Sami chant. Police have stated that those removed from the ministries will face fines.
The dispute revolves around 151 turbines at Europe's largest onshore wind farm, located in the Fosen district, which is approximately 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of Oslo. The activists argue that the transition to green energy should not come at the expense of the rights of Indigenous people. They claim that the wind farm continues to operate despite a ruling by Norway's Supreme Court in October 2021, which found that the construction of wind turbines violated the rights of the Sami people, who have used the land for reindeer for centuries.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy requested that the owners of the two wind farms establish whether measures could be taken to ensure reindeer herding near the turbines. However, the Sami have refused to participate in such a process.
The Sami people are recognized by international organizations as Europe's only Indigenous people due to their unique cultural roots that predate the creation of nation-states. They traditionally lived in Lapland, which extends from the northern parts of Norway through Sweden and Finland to Russia. The majority of the Sami people in the Arctic region live on the Norwegian side of the border, with between 40,000 and 60,000 residing in central and northern Norway. They have their own parliaments, schools, newspapers, and broadcasts in their language on national radio and television. Although they mostly live modern lifestyles, they still tend to reindeer. Photo by Mats Andersson, Wikimedia commons.