Dear Secretary General Robertson, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure and an honor to receive you in Oslo, Lord Robertson.

The Secretary General of NATO is always warmly welcome.

It is also a pleasure to have you here as a distinguished British politician, with an outstanding career in the Scottish and British Labour, and a pronounced European record.

As British Minister of Defence, we came to know you as a man with the courage of your convictions.

And, it is warming to have you here as a Scotsman.

Born and raised just across the North Sea.

On the same kind of windswept, cold and rainy, but uniquely beautiful coast.

He who has weathered stormy seas as a boy, will stand up to the kind of stormy weather that hits Secretary Generals and Ministers.

Some time back I visited KFOR and the Norwegian troops serving in Kosovo.

I was impressed by the way in which the young women and men deal with a complex setting and demanding situations.

It is a job that requires dedication and careful judgement every day.

We were reminded of this again just yesterday:

Twenty KFOR-soldiers, mostly Frenchmen, were injured in Mitrovica.

Norway is honored to be able to offer general Skiaker as Commander of the KFOR 5 headquarters from April on.

We know it will be demanding.

But we will provide the necessary resources and do the job.

The KFOR operation represents the new NATO, and NATOs impressive ability to adapt to change.

As Secretary General, it is your job to strike the right balance between preserving NATOs unique qualities, and transforming it to meet new challenges.

It is this blend of continuity and change which has made the Alliance such a powerful alloy.

And made it essential for security and stability all over the new Europe.

Secretary General, you will have our support in all policy areas in guiding the Alliance forward.

- President Bush has put together a foreign policy team with strong Atlanticist credentials and experience. Still, we may well face new differences of view across the Atlantic, on ESDP, on missile defence or other issues.

Norway is dependent on transatlantic solidarity, and strongly committed to it.

We will support you in your efforts to strengthen the political bridgeheads on both sides.

- ESDP will continue to dominate your agenda.

We share the conviction that Europe must carry greater responsibility for its security.

And we expect a real EU-NATO partnership, an ESDP open to third countries, and the ESDP to strengten NATO and transatlantic solidarity.

- You will be travelling to Moscow in a few weeks time to meet with Russian leaders.

We follow NATO-Russia relations up close.

You have our backing in working to release the full potential of the NATO-Russia accord, and in building a broader and more substantial relationship with democratic Russia.

- You follow DCI very closely. Indeed, we know you are here to check on us !

I can assure you that this government will carry through its strong committment to defence reform.

The government’s proposition on defence reform will be put to the Storting in two weeks.

We will have a modernised defence, adapted to national and international tasks, DCI-compatible – and – with providence and parlimentary decision – fully financed !

Secretary General,

Norwegians have a peculiar feeling of ownership to NATO.

NATO is in a sense ours.

Not only ours, of course.

But many feel, deep down, that we have a rightful claim to a more than sizable chunk of NATO.

It probably has to do with the Atlantic character of this country.

Our history, our geography, and our politics.

The Alliance during the Second World War.

You will find this country has an Atlantic vocation.

Be that as it may.

For you, as Secretary General, it means that you can always count on Norway.

But we have discovered that we have a rightful claim of ownership on you as well, Lord Robertson !

In fact: The Isle of Islay was ruled by the King of Norway during the 11 ^th> Century, until the conclusion of the Treaty of Perth, in1266.

So you are really quite a bit ours - and that is reassuring.

We will be thinking about exactly how we will stake our claim on you !

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I ask you to join me in a toast to Secretary General Robertson, to the Atlantic Alliance, and to peace and security for all nations and peoples of Europe.

***

With luck, they have unearthed a bottle of malt whiskey from the Isle of Islay, that will be served after dinner.