Norwegian PM fined for breaking COVID-19 restrictions

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Stolberg has been handed a fine of 20,000 Norwegian kroner ( about €1,977) for breaking assembly restrictions against COVID-19, informed the police during a virtual press conference on Friday, reported Xinhua.

The fine was imposed after police determined that a gathering of the Solberg's family and guests in February contravened state regulations. The gathering, including more than ten people over two consecutive days, was to celebrate the prime minister's 60th birthday in the mountain village of Geilo, southern Norway.

"There are four too many. We should not have had it like that, and I should have stopped it. I did not do that, and can only say sorry," said Solberg to Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) at the outset of the police investigation.

The police believe that a fine for Solberg is justified in maintaining the Norwegian people's confidence in the rules that will prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"The law is equal for all, but not all are equal. Solberg has in many situations represented the government's decisions on measures to counter the epidemic. It is therefore considered right to react with a punishment to maintain the public's trust in the infection control rules, " said Ole B. Saeverud, police chief in the South-East police district to the Norwegian newspaper VG on Friday.