By Spy Uganda
Kampala: The Norwegian Embassy is ending its operations in Kampala, Uganda citing ongoing structural reforms and the closure shall be finalized in July next year.
“Norway is currently undertaking structural reforms of the foreign service. As part of the reform process, changes are being made in the diplomatic presence abroad. Concentrating and consolidating is expected to better serve Norwegian national interests, and to increase the effectiveness of Norway’s international engagement. This means that Norway is scaling up its presence in some locations. The consequence is that painful drawdowns must be made in other places,” the statement said. (https://northeastohiogastro.com/)
The statement further added ”five Norwegian missions were closed in July this year. Kampala will be closed by the end of July 2024. Closing of the embassy in Kampala is based solely on overall administrative assessments related to the need for reallocation of the foreign service’s resources”.
The embassy however maintains that ”Uganda is a long-standing partner to Norway, and the excellent bilateral relations are highly valued. Norway wishes to maintain the strong ties that exist between the two countries”.
”Development cooperation continues. A substantial portion of today’s aid is already administered by the Norwegian development agency, Norad. Future cooperation will be managed by Norad and another mission in the region, yet to be determined. Support through Norwegian and international NGOs as well as the UN and other multilateral channels continues” the statement added.
The Norwegian Embassy in Kampala represents Norway in Rwanda and Burundi. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working on solutions to safeguard Norway’s diplomatic representation in these countries.
