President Mesic,

Mrs Mesic,

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dobro došli u Oslo!!

It is a very great pleasure for Bjørg and me to welcome you to this dinner.

The relations between Norway and Croatia are excellent, and there is great potential for deepening and strengthening them even further.

President Mesic, your visit is an important contribution to this process. Over the last few months you and I have met on several occasions, in Istanbul, in Tirana, in Madrid. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting even my close Nordic colleagues so often in such a short space of time! I feel that this is a good reflection of the way the contacts between our countrymen are growing.

In fact personal relationships are being formed every summer, as an increasing number of Norwegians visit the magnificent Croatian coast for their holidays. It seems that no reputable Norwegian travel agent plans the summer tourist season without including several destinations on your coast. There is no doubt that the warmth of the Croatian sun and hospitality has had an effect.

I can tell you that Bjørg and I have also been carefully studying the travel brochures – and we are very tempted.

The growth in tourism has even wider implications. Tourism is a door-opener, and I am confident that it will lead to further co-operation in a wide range of fields.

There is certainly a potential for expanding trade between our countries . We already have partnerships in the shipbuilding and shipping industries.

It is important that co-operation produces concrete results. Here I would like to call attention to our shared interests in resource management issues, maritime security and border control, the marine environment and coastal zone development. There is also a potential for co-operation in the energy and environmental fields.

Some Norwegian companies have already invested in Croatia, with promising results. I am sure that more will follow.

Our two countries will be meeting more and more often in an EU context.

Croatia’s successful integration into Euro-Atlantic structures will be an encouragement for neighbouring countries.

I would like to express my deep respect for your strong personal commitment to reconciliation and co-operation, both within Croatia, and between Croatia and its neighbours. Your country is doing much to help normalise neighbourly relations and improve regional stability.

Norway and Croatia are both committed to European co-operation. Our countries and peoples are bound together through common values and a shared European culture and heritage.

We look forward to strengthening our political, economic and cultural ties in the years to come.

Our two nations both have long and beautiful coastlines. Granted, your coastline is rather warmer than ours. However, the point remains that Norwegians and Croats both have a close relationship to the sea, its resources and the opportunities it offers. The Adriatic coast is famous for its seafood. Tonight you have had a taste of what the cold, clear Norwegian waters have to offer. I hope you have enjoyed it.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would now like to ask you to join me in a toast to His Excellency the President of Croatia, Mr Stjepan Mesic, to Mrs Milka Mesic, and to the prosperity and happiness of the people of Croatia.