Frode Berge, leader of the Labour Party in the region of Rogaland, Norway, writes about the importance of the party's summer camp held by his party every year on Utoeya island, scene of Friday's killing spree by Andres Behring Breivik. Mr Berge, 45, has previously served in several leading positions within the Labour Party and the AUF.

I am one of thousands of Labour Party officials who, over the years, has developed a deeply personal relationship with Utoeya.
For the last 30 years, I have been actively involved in the AUF (the Labour Party Youth) and in the party itself. Some of my best social and political memories date from being a teenager on Utoeya.
It is such a fantastic place! A tiny, picturesque island located in the Tyrifjorden fjord outside Oslo, it is actually owned by the AUF, received as a generous gift from the trade unions in Oslo after World War II.
Over the past five decades, Utoeya has become a precious and extremely valuable asset for the AUF and the Labour Party - physically, socially and politically.
Recruitment base

As well as being just a great place to spend your holiday, Utoeya has over the years developed into a place of significant national political importance.

The Labour Party has been a dominant political force in Norway for the last 60-70 years, and the AUF has been an extremely important base for recruiting and training our political leaders.

Utoeya has served as the main national platform for this recruiting and training.

Every summer, some 700-1,000 Labour youths from all over Norway have gathered for political debate and seminars covering topics like international solidarity, environmental issues, education, vocational training, and how to fight racism and xenophobia.
The AUF is a multi-cultural organisation, with a very clear stance against racism and xenophobia, and the island has always been a buzzing ethnic melting pot.
The AUF summer camp at Utoeya is the place our party leader and other prominent leaders always simply have to attend.
The fact that our present party leader and Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, has spent parts of his summer holiday on the island every year from the age of 14 clearly proves this point.
The summer camps at Utoeya always generate massive media coverage, and regularly set the national political agenda.
More here
And here, from a member of the UK Labour Party: http://www.labourlist.org/rest-in-peace-young-comrades

Norway sends communist activists to East London to help Labour in 2010 local (?) elections:

YCL Executive on tragedy in Norway

Saturday, 23 July 2011 12:18

"The Executive Committee of the Young Communist League sends it's condolences to the bereaved in Norway and it's solidarity with the Norwegian people as a whole in the struggle against fascism. We recall the delegation sent from Norway, including members from the Worker's Youth League, to assist in the struggle in Dagenham during the 2010 local elections, and have offered whatever assistance we can provide to the struggle against fascism in Norway through our fraternal comrades there Ungkom - Communist Youth of Norway". Mick Carty - international secretary YCL Britain. http://www.ycl.org.uk/

Norwegian Labour Party: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Party_%28Norway%29

Norwegian Conservative Party: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party_%28Norway%29

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/world/europe/14iht-norway.html
2009: "Norway’s left-leaning prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, wants his nation to renew its commitment to one of the world’s most advanced social welfare models, which has weathered the global financial crisis with nary a wobble because of the country’s carefully managed oil riches.
“The biggest dividing line in Norwegian politics is no longer between the Conservatives and Labor, but between the Progress Party (Conservatives) and everybody else,” said Hanne Marthe Narud, a professor of political science at the University of Oslo.

But as Norwegians headed to the polls for parliamentary elections on Sunday, Mr. Stoltenberg, 50, appeared to be on the defensive. Many voters had already told pollsters that they were weary of the high taxes and open-door asylum policies they have associated with Mr. Stoltenberg’s so-called red-green government of laborites, socialists and agrarians, which has been in power since 2005.
The polling booths opened Sunday and close Monday evening.
“The government is under very strong pressure, and most surveys say it could lose its majority in Parliament,” said Arne Strand, political editor of the newspaper Dagsavisen.
A right-leaning majority in Parliament, however, would not necessarily end the reign of Mr. Stoltenberg, whose Labor Party has set the agenda for Norwegian politics over the past six decades. That is because the political right, with four main parties, is in chaos."

PS why are mozlems using the language of socialism/communism?