2022 in Norway

Events in the year 2022 in Norway.

Overview

The year was dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Norway took in Ukrainian refugees fleeing the invasion of their country. Norwegian government sent foreign aid to Ukraine, and condemned and sanctioned Russia for waging the war.
As the rest of Europe and in the world, Norway continued to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and Delta cron hybrid variant, but much less so than in January 2020 and February 2022. The 2021–2023 inflation surge led to increased prices on many goods.

Incumbents

Monarch – Harald V
President of the Storting - Masud Gharahkhani.
Prime Minister – Jonas Gahr Støre.

Events

Ongoing – COVID-19 pandemic in Norway

January

24 January – The daily number of COVID-19 Deltacron infections has peaked in Norway.

February

1 February – Norway lifts almost all remaining COVID-19-related restrictions except for face mask rules due to the country's high vaccination rate.
25 February –
*Norway joined Denmark and Sweden were transition to the living with COVID-19 endemic phase.
*Ukrainians, Norwegians, and Russians hold a joint anti-war protest in Kirkenes, Norway, calling for Vladimir Putin to be tried at the International Criminal Court at The Hague, Netherlands.

March

7 March – One person dies and seven crew members are rescued after a fishing trawler capsizes in the North Sea while travelling to Norway, according to the Norwegian Coast Guard.
18 March – Four crew members are killed as a United States Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey aircraft crashes in Beiarn Municipality, Norway, while participating in the NATO military exercise Cold Response.
22 March – Despite Deltacron cases fall, King Harald V tests positive for Delta cron hybrid variant of COVID-19.

May

20 May – Three people are wounded, one critically, in a stabbing attack in Nore og Uvdal Municipality, Norway. Police say that the attack was due to a domestic dispute between the perpetrator and his wife.
31 May – Monkey pox detected for the first time in Norway.

June

1 June –
Parliament votes against a proposal to give 16-year-olds voting rights in municipal and county council elections.
The Storting votes against a proposal to amend the Constitution by opening up for a republic in Norway.
2 June –
Peggy Hessen Følsvik is elected as LO leader for three years, after she has been acting leader since March 2022.
Hans Sverre Sjøvold resigns as head of PST.
3 June –
Parliament adopts a defense agreement with the United States, where it establishes "agreed areas" at Rygge, Sola and Evenes Air Station, and at Ramsund Naval Station. In these areas, can the US establish military infrastructure, after approval by Norway. The infrastructure will become Norwegian property.
LO's congress decides to work for an international boycott of Israel.
7 June –
Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett announce their engagement.
9 June –
The Cause of Death Registry reports 241 deaths of overdose for 2021, the lowest number since 2013.
10 June –
The government decided to terminate the contract for the Norwegian Defense' 14 NH90 helicopters, deliver back the helicopters that have been delivered, and claim back NOK 5 billion from the supplier because the delivery is delayed.
NHO and Finance Norway decide to merge.
11 June – The new National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design opens in Vika, Oslo.
14 June –
The Norwegian Parliament decided that the counties of Viken, Vestfold and Telemark and Troms and Finnmark, as well as Ålesund municipality, will be split up from 1 January 2024.
15 June –
Electric scooters are reclassified from "bicycle" to "motor vehicle", and thus gets an alcohol limit of 0.2, an age limit of 12 years and a helmet requirement for children under the age of 15.
24 June – Kongsberg attack: A court in Norway finds the attacker not criminally responsible due to paranoid schizophrenia and sentences him to compulsory mental treatment.
25 June –
The mass shooting in Oslo 2022.
29 June –
A major data attack affected many Norwegian websites, such as Altinn, ID-porten, NRK, Politiet, Arbeidstilsynet and NAV. The attack was early on linked to a Russian hacker group, Killnet.

July

1 July –
Ferry crossings with less than 100,000 passengers per year will be free to use.
Svalbard: The government introduces a requirement of 3 years residence in Norway to have the right to vote in the Longyearbyen Local Government, and to be eligible for election in the Local Government. The requirement goes to persons who are not Norwegian citizens.
5 July –
Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt formally signed Norway's approval of Finland and Sweden's applications for membership in NATO.
6 July –
A new data attack affects several Norwegian newspapers, such as VG, Bergens Tidende, Aftenposten and Stavanger Aftenblad, which experienced a few hours with instability due to this.
22 July –
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration reports 63 deaths in traffic in Norway in the first half of the year, a doubling from the same period in 2021, the number was 31.

August

14 August –
The walrus Freya, who had been observed in several countries around the North Sea since 2019, was killed by the Directorate of Fisheries in Frognerkilen in Oslo.
22 August –
The new rescue helicopter base in Tromsø Municipality was opened.

September

27 September –
*Norway raises its "emergency preparedness" in response to sightings of "unidentified drones" near its offshore oil and gas facilities in the North Sea, and is coordinating with its armed forces, police, and oil and gas industry operators, according to energy minister Terje Aasland.
*Leaders from Poland, Norway and Denmark hold a ceremony to open the Baltic Pipe natural gas pipeline that will transport natural gas from the Norwegian shelf via Denmark to Poland.

October

31 October –
*Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announces that the country's military alert level will be increased tomorrow, in response to military drone sightings near offshore oil rigs in the past few weeks.
*Two people are killed and another is injured by a helicopter crash in Verdal Municipality in Trøndelag.

December

12 December – A medieval ship is discovered at the bottom of the large lake Mjøsa.
15 December – Viggo Kristiansen was officially acquitted of the Baneheia case, by the Borgarting Court of Appeal.

Sports

Norway at the 2022 Winter Olympics

Deaths