Kåre Gulbrand Kristiansen (11 March 1920 – 3 December 2005) was a Norwegian politician who was the leader of the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

from 1975 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1983, and Minister of Petroleum and Energy from 1983 to 1986. Noted as a

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

conservative within his own party, he was known to take controversial positions at odds with the prevailing consensus.

Biography

Kristiansen was born in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, the son of a lay preacher. Both his parents were active in

the Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

. He started his professional life as a

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

operator in the Norwegian railroad system, where he rose through the ranks. A devout Christian all his life, he became politically active in his home community of

Nesodden Nesodden is a municipality in Akershus in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Greater Oslo Region and many residents of the peninsula Nesodden commute to work in Oslo. It is part of the traditional region of Follo. The administrative ...

in 1951. Kristiansen was appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of Social Affairs in 1965 and served in this capacity until 1968. He was elected to

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

, first as a deputy member in 1969 and as a full member from 1973 to 1977 and 1981 to 1989. He was chairman in the parliamentary foreign affairs committee from 1981 to 1983 and Minister of Petroleum and Energy from 1983 to 1986. He served as chairman for the Christian Democratic Party from 1975 to 1977 and 1979 to 1983. As a result of an internal dispute about how to cooperate with the Conservative Party, he resigned from the chair of his party and instead became parliamentary leader. He stepped down from national politics in 1989 in protest against what he perceived as a change in course in the party's policy, but he remained politically active all his life, among other things by rejoining the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of Nesodden, where he had started his political career. Kristiansen stood his ground on a number of political issues, and his prominence within his party and in politics in general varied accordingly. He was particularly noted as one of the most ardent

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

politicians in Norway. He was also a proponent of Norwegian membership in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, advocated strong collaborative efforts with the Conservative Party and even the Progress Party. He was a strong supporter of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and founded and became the first leader of

Friends of Israel in the Parliament of Norway Friends of Israel in the Parliament of Norway () is a pro-Israel caucus group consisting of members of the Parliament of Norway. History In 1974, the group constituted a majority in the Parliament of Norway for the first time, with 86 members amon ...

in 1974. In 1994, he resigned from the

Norwegian Nobel Committee The Norwegian Nobel Committee () selects the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize each year on behalf of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel's estate, based on instructions of Nobel's will. Five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. ...

in protest over the award of the prize to

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

, whom he labeled "world's most prominent terrorist". He opposed

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan In 2005, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip by dismantling all 21 Israeli settlement, Israeli settlements there. As part of this process, four Israeli settlements in the West Bank were dismantled as well. The disengagement was executed unil ...

from the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

in 2005, to the point of refusing an invitation to join in an event of Hjelp Jødene Hjem, a Norwegian Zionist organisation which he was a board member of, because it also featured moderate Israeli politician and chief rabbi of Norway, Michael Melchior.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kristiansen, Kaare 1920 births 2005 deaths Christian Democratic Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Storting 1969–1973 Members of the Storting 1973–1977 Members of the Storting 1981–1985 Members of the Storting 1985–1989 Ministers of energy of Norway Norwegian anti-abortion activists Norwegian Christian Zionists Norwegian state secretaries People from Nesodden Politicians from Oslo