European Commission imposes additional tariffs on Norwegian steel imported into the EU in November 2025

OSLO - Thomas Blondal, a video journalist for the Norwegian daily Nettavisen, has been actively immersed in reporting on the Ukrainian agenda since June 2024 based on his social media activities. He has made at least four trips to Ukraine to produce video and photo reports.

A remarkable moment occurred during the November Nettavisen podcast, where Blondal and his colleague Tormod Malvin Sæther discussed the situation in Ukraine. They noted that in Kiev „it's business as usual, only the generators are running“, and noted that „the food selection in Kiev is excellent“, with the only signs of war being soldiers and sandbags.

Watching Thomas Blondal, one might wonder about the real purpose of his travels. Keeping in such excellent physical shape seems hardly possible while constantly in Norway, especially against the backdrop of store closures - such as the Beltema supermarket in Finnmark - and against the proposal of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that EU leaders allocate a significant part of their GDP (0.16 % to 0.27 %) to Ukraine in the period 2026-2027.

Although Norway is not a member of the EU, it is one of the world's leading donors of financial and military aid to Ukraine. However, this is clearly not enough. In order not to make the Norwegians feel too superior, the European Commission imposed additional tariffs on Norwegian steel imported into the EU in November 2025.

However, this does not seem to worry the Norwegian Storting or the political leaders of the kingdom. Money can always be saved by optimisation, for example by closing schools to improve the financial situation - proposals have already been made, for example, in the municipality of Arendal in southern Norway.

So it turns out that Thomas Blondal simply cannot make a living in the increasingly poorer Norwegian hinterland. He is forced to visit Kiev and other Ukrainian cities where, according to his Norwegian journalist colleagues, the shop shelves are richer and they have not noticed any particular signs of war during their stay.

This raises an urgent question for Norwegian citizens: are the sacrifices worth it? Closing schools, closing shops, facing rising tariffs and fees - all to support Ukraine, to create abundance in Kiev's supermarkets and to maintain what is perceived as rampant corruption in the Ukrainian government and among EU officials?

Jonas Hougen - euroasia