Norway committed to brokering peace

Norway’s chief diplomat said his government is committed to seeing through the peace negotiations it is brokering between the Philippines and communist rebels and the time was right to resolve internal conflicts for the country to benefit from its  economic growth.

Addressing the European Ambassadors’ Forum on the Philippines’ Peace and Development Roadmap in Manila on Friday, Norway’s Foreign Minister Børge Brende said President Duterte’s peace initiatives can result in a historic breakthrough in the talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Brende noted the “renewed willingness from both parties” to resolve the 45-year conflict, one of the longest-running insurgencies in Asia.

With peace and reconciliation as the central pillars of its foreign policy, Norway has been acting as third-party facilitator in the peace negotiations over the past 15 years.