Foreign Ministry seeks
to halt clothing store's
flag abuse
 The latest store opened by Mediatex in Germany misuses the Norwegian flag, claim Norwegian officials. PHOTO: DANIEL HUBER / 20 MINUTEN The store was an immediate target of protests. PHOTO: DANIEL HUBER / 20 MINUTEN |
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| Neo-nazi clothing 'abuses' Norway's flag - 04.12.2006 |
The new "Brevik" clothing store opened in downtown Hamburg late last week, featuring the "Thor Steinar" brand of clothes aimed at neo-Nazi customers.
Both the store and the clothing are emblazoned with the Norwegian flag and other Nordic symbols, and Norwegian officials long have protested the practice.
Parent company Mediatex runs other stores as well, and opened one called "Tønsberg" in Berlin three years ago. The ministry now plans to battle Mediatex in court in an effort to win an order stopping the company from using the Norwegian flag as a commercial logo.
"We are very serious about this, and have followed the problem for a long time," said Frode Solberg of the Norwegian embassy in Berlin. "We have taken this up with the German authorities and the issue is now in the courts."
Morten Paulsen, Norwegian counsel general in Hamburg, told Aftenposten.no that "we don't want the Norwegian flag to be associated with values that counter what our nation stands for. They're using a country's good reputation to build up their own brand name. That's why we're going after the company in court."
It remains unclear, however, which court will handle the complaint from the Norwegian government.
The "Brevik" store in Hamburg was an immediate target of anti-racist protests over the weekend, because of its neo-Nazi connections. Around 200 police officers had to guard the shopping center's entrance, to keep the demonstrators and the store's staff and customers from fighting each other.
Jostein Ihlebæk
Aftenposten English Web Desk
Nina Berglund
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