Solberg about US riots: – I’m very worried
Prime Minister Erna Solberg (Høyre) says she is very worried about riots raging across the United States following the George Floyd police killing.
“I’m very worried about what’s happening in the US. Not least because society looks so divided,” says Solberg to NTB.
“We needed a US that was in the international arena after Covid-19 to foster international cooperation. What we see is a US that is going to be much more concerned with their internal situation,” she says.
In the United States, the demonstrations and riots have now been going on for seven days after the death of African-American George Floyd, 46, following a brutal arrest by police last Monday. The unrest has spread to a large number of cities in the United States, and in several places a curfew has been introduced.
President Donald Trump’s threat to deploy the army against the violent anti-racist demonstrations in the United States has not helped calm tempers. On Tuesday, it was reported that five police officers had been shot in the last few hours – four of them in St. Louis, Missouri and one in Las Vegas.
“The fundamental challenge of making minorities feel part of a society is vitally important. We must all work with that,” says Solberg, who believes that Norway is doing well in this context.
At the same time, the explosive situation that the United States has experienced over the past week has long historical roots, the Prime Minister points out.
“But you have to try to build bridges. It is not good for any society to be as deeply divided as the United States is now,” she says.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
