Higher security on the 17th of May

17 May..Photo: Jon Olav Nesvold / NTB scanpix

Similarly to last year, the police will put in place a number of security measures in Oslo and several other cities in connection with children’s marches on the 17th of May.

 

Despite the fact that the PST estimates that the threat level is lower than last year,the Oslo police also put in additional safety measures this year.

“We want to use busses and police cars around the children’s march, and you will see armed police,” said Martin Strand, chief executive officer in Oslo Police District to TV 2.

Trondheim and Stavanger are opting for ‘advance storage’, which means that the police will have weapons available in the police cars. In Bergen there will not be a general armed force on May 17, but the police will have armed patrols in particularly risky places.

Security measures for the ‘National Day’ 2017 were announced shortly after PST upgraded the threat level in Norway due to the fact that there was “likely”to be a terrorist attack in 2017.

The background was the terrorist attack in Stockholm, as well as the arrest of a 17 year old with a bomb like object in downtown Oslo.

“The open threat assessment is known and it is slightly lower than last year,but we have chosen to arm ourselves this year on the basis of the overall threat that exists. There are, nevertheless, small shades in the threat assessment’’said Strand.

The head of department pointed out that the police have worked a lot with intelligence in advance, and that there are no signals of a specific threat to national security this year.

The children’s march, however, is such a special arrangement that the police do not want to take any chances, he added.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today