The 1995 Norwegian Association meeting at Godlia kino was a meeting that was held on 2 September 1995, right before the electoral campaign for the 1995 local elections. The meeting was attended by many

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

and far-right organisations, but gained notoriety because the profiled Progress Party Member of Parliament

Øystein Hedstrøm Øystein Hedstrøm (born 7 August 1946) is a Norwegian politician. He was a Member of Parliament from Østfold for the Progress Party from 1989 to 2005, after which he declined renomination. Early and personal life Hedstrøm was born in Moss, N ...

was revealed to have been present and held a speech at the meeting. On 3 September 1995, the newspaper ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

'' published photos of Hedstrøm holding a speech about immigration at an allegedly secret meeting at the

movie theatre A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

''Godlia kino'' in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. The journalists who had investigated the meeting were Arne O. Holm, Cato Vogt-Kielland and

Thor Gjermund Eriksen Thor Gjermund Eriksen (born 2 October 1966) is a Norwegian journalist and editor who has been Director-General of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation from 2013 to 2022. Career Journalistic career Born in Oslo, he was hired as a journalist in ' ...

. The meeting, which went under the name "Year of the grasshoppers" (''Gresshoppenes år''), was attended by 24 persons, including Bastian Heide,

Jack Erik Kjuus Jack Erik Kjuus (18 January 1927 – 12 January 2009) was a Norwegian far-right politician of the former White Electoral Alliance who was convicted of racism in 1997. The party Kjuus led was a merger between two anti-immigrant parties, Stop the Im ...

, Bjarne Dahl,

Erik Gjems-Onstad Erik-Ørn Gjems-Onstad, MBE (22 February 1922 – 18 November 2011) was a Norwegian resistance member, officer, lawyer, sports official, politician, author and anti-immigration activist. Gjems-Onstad joined the Norwegian resistance movement a ...

and Hege Søfteland. The initiator to the meeting was the nationalist organisation the Norwegian Association (''Den Norske Forening''), which was led by Torfinn Hellandsvik. The newspaper bulletin created shockwaves into the political community. The Progress Party chairman, Carl I. Hagen, had not known that Hedstrøm had participated at the meeting. Hagen immediately quieted Hedstrøm, and distanced himself from the Norwegian Association. Hedstrøm was also stripped of his position as Spokesperson of Immigration Issues. Hagen stated that "Hedstrøm has made a big mistake", and Hedstrøm withdrew from the public scene. After a few days, Hagen changed his opinion and stated that Hedstrøm had done nothing else than attending the meeting as a private person. It also reached surface that other politicians from the Progress Party, such as Deputy Chairman

Vidar Kleppe Vidar Sveinung Kleppe (born 16 September 1963) is a Norwegian politician. He was a member of parliament and deputy leader of the Progress Party until he was suspended and left the party in 2001. He was the leader of the Democrats party from 200 ...

, and Member of Parliament

Fridtjof Frank Gundersen Fridtjof Frank Gundersen (29 October 1934 – 11 November 2011) was a Norwegian professor of jurisprudence and politician. He worked as a lector at the Faculty of Law of the University of Oslo from 1965 to 1975. In 1975 he became professor of jur ...

had also attended meetings hosted by the Norwegian Association. According to the newspaper ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

'', Hedstrøm had also had long-term contact with organisations such as the Fatherland Party and Stop Immigration. It also became known that the leader of the Norwegian Association, Torfinn Hellandsvik, had been the premise supplier for a parliamentary document about immigration that Hedstrøm had prepared. The attention around this case, together with focus on immigration, resulted in a markedly increased support for the Progress Party in the 1995 local elections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1995 Norwegian Association Meeting at Godlia Kino Norwegian Association Meeting at Godlia Kino, 1995 Anti-immigration politics in Norway Political scandals in Norway