You almost have to rub your eyes. While girls are denied schooling and women are oppressed in the worst way in Afghanistan, the Labour government is still allowing the Taliban regime into the heart of Oslo.
Last week, the Taliban proudly announced that their embassy in Norway would reopen on 24 March, after being closed since September last year, according to NRK.
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) has previously said that a new Taliban ambassador was out of the question. However, the door is now being opened for a diplomat named Najibullah Sherkhan, who will be given the title of First Secretary.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is trying to downplay this by calling it a “continuation of the situation” and a “downgrading of the relationship”. But let’s be honest: this smacks of diplomatic recognition from afar.
FrP leader Sylvi Listhaug is crystal clear in her judgement: the government is naive to the extreme.
“When the Støre government allows the Taliban to open an embassy in Oslo, it sends very unfortunate signals that Norway recognises one of the world’s most brutal terrorist organisations,” Listhaug told NRK.
She recalls the Taliban’s previous visits to Norway, where they made empty promises of improvement for women and girls. Now it seems that Norway will once again be the first in Europe to welcome this gang.
Ayesha Wolasmal, who works with health in Afghanistan, points out that there is a need for consular services for Afghan citizens in Norway, but she is also clear that the Taliban will exploit this reopening politically to create an impression of normalisation with the West.
It’s hard to see this reopening as anything other than a glimpse of a reality many of us would have preferred to live without.
Giving the Taliban a platform in Oslo sends an unfortunate signal to all those fighting for freedom and human rights in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world.
You have to wonder which other totalitarian regimes will now look to Norway as a gateway to legitimacy.
This is a dangerous path to take.