32 Facts About Per-Willy Amundsen

Per-Willy Trudvang Amundsen was born on 21 January 1971 and is a Norwegian politician for the Progress Party who served as Minister of Justice from December 2016 to January 2018.

Per-Willy Amundsen previously served as state secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development from 2013, and represented Troms in the Norwegian parliament from 2005 until 2013.

Per-Willy Amundsen attended Kanebogen elementary school, finishing in 1984, before enrolling in Harstad Secondary school, graduating in 1987.

Per-Willy Amundsen later went to Heggen Upper Secondary School between 1987 and 1990.

Per-Willy Amundsen completed the Military leadership course with the Home Guard.

From 1999 to 2005, Per-Willy Amundsen held various positions in the Harstad municipality council.

In 2011, Per-Willy Amundsen changed from being the party's Spokesperson on Immigration Issues, to Spokesperson on Energy Issues.

Per-Willy Amundsen became a deputy member instead, from 2013 to 2017.

Per-Willy Amundsen was appointed state secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation in the new government of Erna Solberg.

Per-Willy Amundsen resigned as chair in March 2024 following controversial comments made on Facebook regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict and women's rights.

On 20 December 2016, in a cabinet reshuffle, Per-Willy Amundsen was appointed Minister of Justice, succeeding fellow Progress Party politician Anders Anundsen.

Per-Willy Amundsen's appointment received massive criticism for his prior controversial remarks, which he refused to address when he took over as minister.

Per-Willy Amundsen was dismissed from government when the Liberal Party joined the Solberg cabinet on 17 January 2018.

Per-Willy Amundsen was succeeded by fellow party member Sylvi Listhaug.

Per-Willy Amundsen has stated that his political rolemodel is Margaret Thatcher.

Per-Willy Amundsen was one of the Norwegian politicians together with Christian Tybring-Gjedde to propose Donald Trump as a candidate for Nobel Peace Prize.

Per-Willy Amundsen has said that his concern with immigration is largely due to the problem of unintegrated immigrants.

Per-Willy Amundsen says that many adhere to cultural values which "collide fundamentally" with Norwegian and Western values such as democracy, freedom, freedom of speech, equality and tolerance.

Per-Willy Amundsen has said that he believes radical Islam should be fought against like all types of fascism.

Per-Willy Amundsen has sought to remove the public economical support for the Islamic Council Norway as it did not distance itself from the use of death penalty for homosexuality.

Per-Willy Amundsen wants stricter control on Mosques, not accept halal slaughtering, remove halal food from prison facilities, and reject hijab in the police force.

Per-Willy Amundsen oppose special demands such as separate schools for Muslims, classrooms segregated by gender, limitation of freedom of speech regarding religion, special breaks for praying during work-time and alcohol-free days in nightclubs.

Per-Willy Amundsen supported the proposal of a ban on burqa and niqab in public spaces which was proposed by his party in 2010.

Per-Willy Amundsen stated that "we don't accept this type of clothing [which is] oppressive to women, and what they represent".

In early 2019 Per-Willy Amundsen sparked a huge debate in Norway when he suggested for child support for non-western immigrants to be cut to stop them from "producing more children" and halt a possible decline of "ethnic Norwegians" in the population.

Per-Willy Amundsen has argued that climate problems are used to conduct socialist policies, saying that "for many socialists, CO2 has replaced Karl Marx".

Per-Willy Amundsen wants Norway to give asylum to UK right wing activist Tommy Robinson, who was given a nine-month jail sentence in 2019.

Per-Willy Amundsen said Robinson was being politically persecuted in the UK.

In March 2024, Per-Willy Amundsen caused controversy when he responded to Facebook comments accusing Israel supporters of genocide.

Per-Willy Amundsen made comments about "Standing with Israel against Arabs who kill people", comments he later deleted.

Per-Willy Amundsen later explained that both posts were made while he was under the influence.

Per-Willy Amundsen was married on 11 July 2009 to Gry-Anette Rekanes-Amundsen, herself a local Telemark Progress Party politician.