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enezuela said on Monday it will close its embassy in Norway, days after exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, deepening a diplomatic rift between the government of President Nicolás Maduro and Western nations.

Norwegian officials said Caracas had notified them of its intention to shut down the embassy in Oslo but had not provided a formal explanation for the abrupt decision.

“It is regrettable,” a spokesperson for Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Reuters. “Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wishes to keep dialogue open with Venezuela and will continue to work in this direction.”

The ministry emphasized that the Norwegian Nobel Committee operates independently from the government, underscoring that Norway had no involvement in the decision to grant the prize to Machado.

Maduro reacts to ‘provocation’

The Venezuelan government did not issue an official statement explaining the closure, but senior officials privately described the move as a “response to political provocation.” State media accused the Nobel Committee of “rewarding destabilization and foreign interference.”

In a speech broadcast late Monday, Maduro condemned the Nobel award as “a trophy of imperial hypocrisy” and said the decision “confirms that Europe and its institutions are aligned with the interests of Washington.”

The closure of the embassy in Oslo follows months of deteriorating ties between Venezuela and several European nations over alleged human rights abuses, the imprisonment of opposition figures, and the outcome of the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, which international observers widely denounced as fraudulent.

María Corina Machado, who has lived in hiding since 2024, was declared the Nobel Peace Prize laureate on Friday for what the committee called her “extraordinary example of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.”

Once a leading candidate for the 2024 election, Machado was barred from running after the government accused her of “inciting foreign sanctions” and “conspiring with terrorist elements.” The election was ultimately won by President Maduro, extending his rule for another six years in a contest described by the opposition as “a constitutional coup.”

In a recorded statement released from an undisclosed location, Machado dedicated her prize “to the suffering people of Venezuela” and to U.S. President Donald Trump, who she said “stood firm against tyranny in our hemisphere.”

Her public praise of Trump, who has launched a renewed U.S. campaign targeting Latin American organized crime groups, further angered Venezuelan officials, who accused her of “colluding with a hostile foreign power.”

Diplomatic reshuffle and global alignment

Venezuela’s foreign ministry said the decision to close the embassies in both Norway and Australia was part of a broader diplomatic “realignment.” Caracas will instead open two new embassies — in Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe — which it described as “strategic allies in the anti-colonial struggle and in resistance to hegemonic pressures.”

“Venezuela is building partnerships with nations that respect sovereignty and the right to self-determination,” Foreign Minister Yván Gil said in a televised statement. “We do not need embassies in countries that treat our nation with contempt.”

Neither Norway nor Australia maintains an embassy in Caracas. Both nations handle Venezuelan consular matters through their embassies in Bogotá, Colombia.

The embassy closure also comes amid growing U.S. military activity in the Caribbean and rising regional tensions over Washington’s declared war on Latin American drug cartels, including Venezuela’s powerful criminal organization, Tren de Aragua.

Since September, the U.S. military has carried out at least four air and naval strikes on vessels allegedly used by drug traffickers in Caribbean waters, under direct orders from the White House. Venezuelan officials have accused Washington of using anti-narcotics operations as a pretext for “military aggression.”

Maduro last week called on the United Nations Security Council to investigate what he described as U.S. violations of international law. “The empire wants to provoke a war against Venezuela using the discourse of fighting drugs and terrorism,” he said.

Norway’s mediator role uncertain

Norway has long played a key role as a neutral mediator in Latin American peace efforts, including the Colombian peace talks and earlier dialogue initiatives between the Venezuelan government and opposition. The embassy closure could complicate any future efforts to revive negotiations between Maduro and opposition groups.

Political analysts said the move symbolized a growing isolation of Venezuela from Europe and a consolidation of its ties with authoritarian or non-aligned states.

“By shutting its doors in Oslo, Caracas is not only sending a message to Norway, but to the entire West — that it no longer seeks legitimacy through Western institutions,” said Elsa Cardozo, a Venezuelan political analyst and former diplomat. “It’s a symbolic act of defiance, driven by resentment over Machado’s global recognition.”

While the Nobel Peace Prize typically seeks to promote reconciliation, this year’s award has sharply polarized Venezuela’s political landscape. Supporters of Machado celebrated the win as “a moral victory” for Venezuelan democracy, while government loyalists staged demonstrations outside the Norwegian consulate in Caracas, burning photos of the Nobel Committee members.

As diplomats prepare to depart Oslo, the closure of Venezuela’s embassy marks another chapter in the country’s deepening estrangement from the Western world — and a reminder that, for now, the Nobel Peace Prize has done little to bring peace to Venezuela itself.

(Source: Aljazeera)

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orway’s ruling Labour Party has secured a second term in power after winning a narrow parliamentary majority alongside its left-leaning allies, even as the right-wing populist Progress Party celebrated its best-ever election performance in a vote marked by concerns over living costs and ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

With 99 percent of ballots counted, Labour Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, 65, and four smaller left-leaning parties won 87 seats in the 169-seat parliament, just above the 85-seat threshold required to govern. However, Stoere faces a more challenging parliamentary landscape, dependent on a fragile coalition of five parties to pass key legislation, including the annual budget.

“Stoere will continue as prime minister, but with a much more difficult parliamentary situation,” said Jonas Stein, a political science professor at the University of Tromsoe.

Populist surge reshapes Norway’s political map

The election also marked a dramatic breakthrough for the Progress Party, led by Sylvi Listhaug, 47, which secured 48 seats—more than double its tally from four years ago. The party’s anti-immigration stance promises of tax cuts, and criticism of green energy subsidies resonated strongly, particularly among younger male voters.

“Young people today are much more right-wing than earlier. The Progress Party has won a huge part of the youth vote,” said Eirik Loekke, a fellow at Oslo-based think-tank Civitas.

Listhaug, who cites Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher as her political inspirations, has sought to reposition the Progress Party from its earlier firebrand image to one of fiscal pragmatism, pledging to reduce what she calls “wasteful spending” on foreign aid and climate initiatives.

Oil, sovereign wealth fund and Israel policy on the table

Prime Minister Stoere’s second term will be defined by tough negotiations over oil exploration, taxation of the wealthy, and the role of Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest. Several of his allies have demanded deeper divestments from Israeli companies, following the fund’s recent decision to pull out from more than two dozen firms linked to Israel’s defense sector.

“Some parties on the left question whether Norway is indirectly contributing to violations of international law by investing in companies active in the occupied Palestinian territories,” the report noted.

The war in Ukraine has played a key role in sustaining support for the centre-left government. Norway, sharing a border with Russia in the Arctic, has positioned itself as a major energy supplier to Europe, replacing Russia’s Gazprom as the continent’s top gas exporter after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, 66, joined Stoere’s cabinet last year, a move that bolstered public confidence in Norway’s security policy amid fears of escalating tensions in Europe. A recent survey by the Peace Research Institute Oslo found that 59% of Norwegians believe a new European war is likely within the next decade, up from 55% last year.

The war in Gaza also loomed over the election, with calls from some leftist factions to reassess Norway’s investments in Israeli firms and its role in Middle East diplomacy.

Stoere pledges stability amid fragmentation

Celebrating his victory in Oslo on Monday night, Stoere addressed jubilant supporters:

“This is a signal to outside Norway that social democracy can also win despite a right-wing wave,” he said, as chants of “four more years” filled the hall.

However, with a strengthened opposition and rising populist sentiment, Stoere’s ability to steer policy on oil and gas, climate, and wealth redistribution will depend on fragile compromises.

Norway’s role as a leading energy supplier to Europe is expected to expand further as the European Union phases out Russian gas by 2027, but several of Stoere’s junior coalition partners have called for a gradual phase-out of new oil exploration, potentially limiting future gas field development.

The Progress Party, meanwhile, has vowed to oppose such measures, arguing that oil and gas revenues remain essential to Norway’s prosperity and its welfare state.

As the new government prepares for its second term, analysts say Stoere’s success will depend on his ability to balance domestic demands for tax fairness and green transition with Norway’s pivotal international role as an energy exporter and mediator in global conflicts.

While the left has secured another term, the right-wing surge—particularly among younger voters—signals a shifting political landscape that could shape Norway’s future far beyond the next four years.

(Source: Reuters)