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Bellona founder calls out anti-wind energy activist’s Russian propaganda

Bellona founder Frederic Hauge.
Bellona founder Frederic Hauge.
Bellona

Publish date: January 29, 2025

Written by: Signy Fardal

Translated by: Charles Digges

Social media are ablaze after Bellona founder Frederic Hauge met Motvind’s Eivind Salen on Norwegian national broadcaster NRK’s Debatten program last night.

In the debate—which was slated as a discussion about the EU’s Clean Energy Package—Hauge stated, among other things, Eivind Salen, an advisor with Motvind (meaning Against Wind), has posted pro-Russian content on his widely-viewed blog.

“There are numerous claims circulating in the atmosphere around Motvind that are highly misleading in the Norwegian debate,” said Hauge. “These claims have gained traction and are influencing the ongoing government crisis [in Norway]. There are people who want to cut power cables, who want to use Norwegian gas as leverage against the EU to get lower electricity prices. This is a very nationalist stance. But what we are talking about here is that we should participate in a European effort to ensure energy security precisely because we are facing aggression from Russia and because we have major climate and environmental challenges.”

Eivind Salen denied that he has pro-Russian content on his blog, and after the debate, Hauge received a hail of criticism on social media that accused him of being unfair to Salen and for spreading falsehoods.

Hauge’s statements are not about opposition to wind power, but rather about how certain groups use the Motvind platform to spread—among other things—pro-Russian content and false information, thereby undermining environmental and climate efforts.

What has Salen written?

Bellona has solid documentation of Salen’s views from his blog, and since this documentation has been requested by, among others, Motvind, we share the following:

In 2018, Eivind Salen tweeted:

“Probably wrong to say this, but right now I wish I could see Russia just swallow Norway and we became part of it. Erna Solberg could still be prime minister, Tybring G could talk about newspapers, we could carry on as before, but be part of this very likable country.”

That same year, he wrote on his blog:

“Western journalists are ready to believe in any crime, as long as it can be linked to Putin and Russia. For years now, they have rather ridiculously jumped on quite wild accusations and taken at face value things they would never have uncritically accepted if Russia were not the alleged culprit. Even educated people are now caught up in a frenzy of confirming their own prejudices. Source criticism only comes into play when their own side is accused of something.”

In another blog post in 2018, he wrote:

“On NRK, as in other Western media, Ukraine is portrayed as the victim of aggression, and they openly speculate about what ‘Putin wants,’ something very few people actually know, as he is one of the world leaders who keeps his cards closest to his chest. Those who know a bit about Russia and the world know that they have nothing to gain from a conflict like this. They will never gain sympathy for seizing Ukrainian ships sailing near land the Russians have conquered from them. The Russians are not doing this because they want to become unpopular.”

During the program, Salen emphasized that he is married to a woman from Ukraine and therefore is not pro-Russian. However, on his blog, he has written:

“I am married to Olia from Kyiv, she was a Ukrainian citizen, is now Norwegian, but happily calls herself Russian.”

– There are countless examples of this type of content in Salen’s social media. While pro-Russian statements have become less frequent since 2019, when Motvind was established, it is extremely concerning that he has not distanced himself from this and that the pro-Russian content is still openly available on his blog, says Hauge.

Climate myths

Yesterday, Bellona released a report on climate myths in social media. The report, prepared by Analyse & Tall, shows that between 37 percent and 48 percent of the climate debate within the comment sections of Motvind’s forums on Facebook over the past four years contains climate myths—statements that contradict the scientific consensus on climate change and the need for climate measures.

Motvind’s largest forums on Facebook have between 55,000 and 119,000 members, meaning that this type of misinformation reaches hundreds of thousands of people.

“It is a threat to democracy and a serious problem for environmental and climate efforts when the debate is infiltrated by people who aim to sabotage it with misinformation,” says Hauge.

Read the report on climate myths in social media (in Norwegian) here.