Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1938, Page 143
CHRONIQUE TRIMESTRIELLE
05
There has been strong opposition
against such a step in the Labour
Party, and no decision has been
taken.
At the beginning of the year the
Government of the Soviet Union
approached Norway, in the same
way as other countries, demanding
that her consulate general in Lenin-
grad should be closed. Although
Norway, by virtue of her commer-
cial treaty with the Soviet Union,
had a formal right to maintain this
consulate, the Norwegian Govern-
ment finally in line with the other
foreign governments, agreed to
withdraw it from April 15th; but
they protested against the validity
of the Soviet attitude that there
ought to be numerical parity as to
mutual exchange of consular repre-
sentatives.
A declaration superseding the
Hague Arrangement of May 28,
1937, was signed by representatives
of the Oslo Powers, at Oslo, May
llth of this year (see the article
by Halvdan Koht pp. 46, 47).
After negotiations between the
Cabinet and representatives of the
political parties the Government on
March 31st demanded an extra-
ordinary vote of 52 millions for
strengthening the national defence.
The vote was passed by 143 against
6.
On April 6th an important
amendment to the Constitution was
adopted by 123 against 24, alter-
ing the duration of the elective
period from three years to four.
The unanimous report of the Com-
mission of Constitution said: »Re-
cent political developments in many
countries have demonstrated the
dangers to the very principles of
free democratic government when
a fatal lack of stability, firmness
and energy in democratic institu-
tions is apparent in times of crisis;
and a principal cause of that evi-
dent weakening of parliamentarism
has undoubtedly in the first in-
stance been due to the incertitude
arising where the number of poli-
tical parties is too great and elec-
tions too frequent.«
The Foreign Ministers of the
four Northern countries met in
Oslo on April 6th—8th. A full re-
port of the meeting is given in the
article »When Kings and Foreign
Ministers Meet« pp. 25, 26.
The Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
and Swedish Committees of Econo-
mic Preparation met in Oslo on
March 7th—8th to discuss the sup-
plies of the Northern countries in
case of a European war.
The Northern Administrative
Committee met in Oslo on February
21 st—22nd and later during the
conference of the Oslo Powers dealt
with in Halvdan Koht’s article (see
pp. 46, 47).
Great interest has been attached
to the participation of Norway in