The Christian Democratic Party is generally considered to be
centre-right. The party holds European Christian democratic positions, including
family values and
social conservatism. Geographically, the Christian Democrats enjoy their strongest support in the so-called
Bible Belt, especially
Southern Norway. In the 2005 elections, their best results were in
Vest-Agder with 18.9% of the vote, compared to a national average of 6.8%. Since the party was established, a declaration of Christian faith had been required for a person to be a representative in the party. Membership had no such requirement. The increase of support for the party from other religious groups, such as Muslims, stimulated efforts to abolish this rule. At the 2013 convention the rule was modified. The new rules require that representatives work for Christian values but do not require them to declare a Christian faith. This latter point was considered the "last drop" for some conservative elements of the party, who as a result broke away and founded
The Christians Party. It has been claimed that KrF have lost votes to the Christians.
Social values The Christian Democratic Party is generally
socially conservative. The party opposes
euthanasia and
abortion, except in cases of
rape or when the
mother's life is at risk. The party supports accessibility to contraception as a way of lowering abortion rates. KrF wishes to ban the use of human foetuses in research and has expressed scepticism of proposals to liberalise biotechnology laws in Norway. Bondevik's second government made the biotechnology laws of Norway among the strictest in the world, with support from the
Socialist Left Party and the
Centre Party, but a 2004 case involving a child with
thalassemia brought the laws under fire.
LGBT rights On
LGBT issues, the party supports permitting same-sex couples to live together but opposes same-sex marriage and adoption rights. The party has criticized the Polish government's policy towards LGBT people, and supported the Norwegian government's decision to withdraw financial support to Polish municipalities that have declared themselves as
LGBT-free zones. The party's leader at the time,
Kjell Ingolf Ropstad, stated: "To not be discriminated against because of one's sexual orientation is a fundamental human right. Therefore, it is important that the government now is clear about the terms of receiving financial support through the EEA funds. We want to support a policy that protects diversity and freedom." The party maintains neutrality on the issue of gay clergy, calling that an issue for the Church. Since 2024, the party has promoted
anti-gender and
anti-trans rhetoric, attacking what they refer to as "
gender ideology."
Foreign policy In
foreign policy, the party marks itself as a supporter of
NATO and the
European Economic Area (EEA) but they oppose Norwegian membership in the
European Union (EU). The party supports Norway's signature and ratification of the UN
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and want stricter rules for Norwegian arms sales abroad. The party is supportive of
Israel and
Ukraine in the
Russo-Ukrainian War.
Development aid Since the turn of the millennium, the Christian Democratic Party has had a major influence on
development aid policy in Norway. The first
Minister of International Development was
Reidun Brusletten (KrF) in 1983.
Hilde Frafjord Johnson held the position from 1997 to 2000 and again from 2001 to 2005, during
Bondevik's First and
Second Cabinet.
Dag Inge Ulstein, the third Christian Democrat to hold the position, addressed the need to take care of vulnerable minorities in foreign policy and by the use of
humanitarian aid. He described these group as: women, children,
people with disabilities and
sexual and
religious minorities. The Christian Democratic Party is a strong supporter of increased development aid and more cooperation with
developing countries. They want 1 percent of the GNI to be spent on
development aid, and a larger share of the sum to be spent on
poverty reduction and
climate change adaptation.
COVID-19 Ulstein has played a prominent role in the global handling of the
COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on fair distribution of vaccines to
poor and middle income countries. As Minister of International Development, he has been the governments spokesperson regarding Norway's contribution in the global fight against COVID-19, which involves the contribution of 2.2 billion
Norwegian kroner to vaccine development through
CEPI, in March 2020, and Norway's entry in the global vaccine cooperation
COVAX in August 2020, as one of the first European countries. In March 2021, it became clear that the Norwegian government had donated 700,000 vaccine doses to low income countries in February the previous year. This created big reactions from other parties, who thought Norway instead should have given the doses to the Norwegian population. The Christian Democratic Party received a lot of criticism from, among others, the leaders of the
Progress Party and the
Centre Party,
Sylvi Listhaug and
Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, respectively. Party leader,
Kjell Ingolf Ropstad, condemned the criticism and stated: "The last thing the world needs now is more egoism and competition between countries. Instead we need to help each other. We will not succeed in the fight against COVID-19 if we only say "Norway first".
Immigration and refugees On questions surrounding
immigration,
integration and
refugee policy, the party has a liberal stance. The Christian Democratic Party wants to base Norway's intake of refugees on the
UN High Commissioner for Refugees' recommendations. In 2021, they announced that they want Norway to take in 5,000 refugees annually, plus 500 extra from the
Moria refugee camp on
Lesbos,
Greece. They have also criticized what they believe is an unfair distribution of refugees fleeing the
Syrian civil war due to the fact that Syria's neighbouring countries (
Turkey,
Jordan and
Lebanon) have received a higher number of refugees than many European countries. Therefore, they want Norway, and
western European countries at large, to retrieve a larger amount of refugees from Syria.
Climate change The Christian Democratic Party support international climate goals and climate agreements, like the
Paris agreement. They want to cut Norwegian emissions of carbon by at least 55% by 2030, compared with 1990 levels, and they aim for a climate-neutral Norway by 2050. They have addressed the need for restructuring in the
Norwegian petroleum industry and want to end oil and gas exploration in new areas. Protection of the vulnerable areas of
Lofoten,
Vesterålen and
Senja from oil drilling, has been an important matter for the Christian Democratic Party. After the
2017 Norwegian parliamentary election,
Knut Arild Hareide, party leader at the time, announced that the Christian Democratic Party would withdraw their support of
Solberg's Cabinet if they opened the areas for oil drilling. When the Christian Democratic Party became part of Solberg's coalition government in January 2019, it was decided that the areas were to be protected until the next election. At the national congress in 2021, the party proposed the creation of a Norwegian climate fund. The goal of the fund was to outcompete the use of coal power, by investing in
renewable energy in developing countries. The Christian Democrats got the proposal through in the
Storting, and a few months later the government decided to establish a climate fund consisting of 1.15 billion dollars. Experts estimated that the fund could result in more than 10 billion dollars in private investment in renewable energy. The deputy leader of the Norwegian environmental organisation
ZERO, Dagfrid Froberg, described the fund as: "Maybe the most important Norwegian measurement in order to fight climate change." The Christian Democratic Party wants increased funding of public transport projects outside Oslo, like the
Bergen Light Rail. They want to accomplish this by making the government finance a larger share of the cost of developing local public transport systems, in order to make public transport more accessible and efficient, especially for people with disabilities. == List of party leaders ==