Dear Prime Minister, Mrs Dzurindová, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour to welcome you, Prime Minister Dzurinda and Mrs. Dzurindová, on this first visit to Norway of the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic.

It is a pleasure to be with many close friends of Norway and Slovakia, and to be at Akershus Castle, which for centuries has stood witness to our nation’s history.

Located at a crossroads of European cultures, Slovakia has a rich history. You are an old nation, but young as an independent state.

The Norwegian and Slovak peoples were brought together during the period of cultural and national awakening at the end of the nineteenth century.

Dramatic events in Slovak history at the time made a strong impression in this country.

The writer Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson joined the Slovak people in the struggle to defend their rights.

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson spent his childhood years in my home town Molde. The Bjørnson Festival of International Literature is arranged there every year.

Bjørnson made his literary debut as a schoolboy, with a “Speech of Freedom to the People in Molde”, in the local newspaper.

That paper, Romsdals Budstikke, is my local newspaper. I still get it on my desk in the Prime Minister’s office every morning.

Inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution, Bjørnson wrote: “With the word “Freedom” on their lips, the peoples of Europe have made the tyrants tremble”.

Bjørnson was a standard bearer in our nation’s national awakening – he therefore identified himself strongly with the Slovak people in theirs.

Mr Prime Minister,

A hundred years ago in Europe, national independence was a pathway to the realization of the social and cultural aspirations of our peoples.

The historic changes in Europe ten years ago in a sense completed this process.

Today, the fulfilment of popular aspirations for peace, well-being, and human rights lie first and foremost in close co-operation and integration between our nation states.

In a world of growing interdependence in all areas, this becomes truer day by day.

As Foreign Minister, I visited Prague in the early spring of 1990, soon after the Velvet Revolution. I met with the Czechoslovak Foreign Minister at the time, Jiri Dienstbier, one of president Havel’s close associates, also during the years in prison.

I was told a story – which is an illustration of the peaceful revolution.

Before the Velvet Revolution, the intellectual Dienstbier earned his living shovelling coal in a factory. One morning he had to call the factory and say he could not come to his ordinary job that day – he was appointed Foreign Minister !

Both the Velvet Revolution and the establishment of the separate Czech and the Slovak Republics a few years later were conducted in a manner that impressed us all.

Mr Prime Minister,

Your government has taken a choice, for integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures, for membership in the European Union and the Atlantic Alliance.

You are developing your economy, your public administration, and political institutions with this in mind. You have the clear support of public opinion.

And we will support you.

While not a member of the EU, Norway will continue its policy of close co-operation with the EU, and will continue to share European responsibilities.

When you become a member of the European Union, you will also join the European Economic Area. As part of the single market our economies will be open to each other.

We share a desire to develop our economic relations. I am convinced tomorrow’s seminar on investment in Slovakia will contribute to this. Norwegian companies are working in Slovakia, and many of their representatives are here tonight.

Norway also supports your preparations for EU membership through project assistance, on the environment, local democracy, the Roma people and women’s rights.

Norway supports NATO’s enlargement process, and we expect new countries to be invited next year to become members of the Alliance. Slovakia has become a strong candidate for membership in NATO. Norway will welcome Slovakia as a partner in NATO.

I am pleased that closer bilateral relations also have increased cultural contacts:

A collection of short stories written by Norwegian and Slovak women writers was launched in Bratislava last week, honoured by Mrs Dzurindová’s presence. Norwegian authors visit Slovakia and are being translated into Slovak. Slovak photography is now on exhibition in Kristiansand.

Mr Prime Minister,

As democratic, European nations, Norway and Slovakia share the same fundamental values and same belief in democracy, tolerance, and human rights for all.

After the attack on the United States on September 11, we are engaged in a common effort to combat international terrorism. We discussed this earlier today, and I am pleased to note our shared opinions also on this urgent issue.

Dear Colleague, I wish you the best of luck in the important negotiations and reforms that you will be undertaking in the coming year. After our talks today, I am convinced they will be conducted in the same spirit that has allowed Slovakia to make impressive progress over the last few years.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I ask you to join me in a toast to Prime Minister Dzurinda and Mrs. Dzurindová, to our guests and to the close and fruitful relations between our two nations.