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Police want armed guards at Parliament

NTB/The Local
NTB/The Local - [email protected]
Police want armed guards at Parliament
Should Norway increase its presence of armed guards? Photo: Timo Jaakonaho / NTB scanpix

The Norwegian Parliament is a risk for terror attack and police want to have armed guards on its grounds, a report said on Friday.

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A security report was presented to the Norwegian Parliament last year. In the report, police chiefs recommended several solutions to improve security at the national assembly, TV2 reported.

Norway's Parliament has today considered and put into practice many of the suggestions, but not all of them.
 
In recent weeks, PST and Oslo police have become worried about the absence of tighter security at Parliament's main entrance. They have recommended armed guards as a security measure.
 
In reaction to this week's new terror alert, PST has admitted releasing to the public such security concerns can weaken the organization's reputation.
 
PST estimates there is a more than 50 percent chance of Norway being struck by terror in the next year. According to a recent evaluation, the threat from a terror attack “has escalated”.
 
Martin Bernsen, Head of Information at PST, said to Klassekampen that the update is part of an increased openness from PST.
 
“There has been development over time where [PST] try to be more open and accountable. We still make hundreds of threat evaluations during a year, and only a few of them are distributed publicly in this way,” said Bernsen.
 
Bernsen admits that the openness can lead to problems.
 
He pointed out that there is a significant difference between the threat this summer and the updated threat level that was announced on Wednesday.
 
The threat from ISIS has been highlighted in the updated threat evaluation as a direct cause for the raised threat level.

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