Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg had the following statement after receiving Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Oslo today:

"Let me first take this opportunity to say how honoured we are to have President Abbas as our guest. Without his wisdom and commitment to the Oslo process it is difficult to imagine the historic handshakes on the White House lawn in September 1993.

Today, I have commended President Abbas for his role as a source of stability and moderation. His consistent rejection of violence and terror has set a standard which the Hamas Government must follow. This requires respecting the principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel and accepting previous agreements between the parties. These must be upheld by the new Hamas Government, and we are eager to see them move in the right direction

I also underlined our call on Israel to respect previously concluded agreements, key UN Security Council resolutions.

Israel must refrain from violence, stop annexing Palestinian land, cease illegal settlement activities and stop work on the separation wall on Palestinian territory, which is in violation of international law.

I will sum up my message today in three main points:

Firstly, we strongly support a renewed and revitalized peace process.

The clear goal should be a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It must be based on a negotiated agreement. And the result must be an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel.

Secondly, our continued support for the people of Palestine is strong:

It is now of great importance to avoid a further worsening of the humanitarian situation for the Palestinian people. We will continue our assistance to the Palestinian people through the UN and Norwegian NGOs.

In view of the current situation, we have also discussed with President Abbas as head of the Palestinian Authority the possible role of his Office in channelling humanitarian and other assistance to institutions directly under his supervision.

With the President’s guidance we were able to start reviewing a number of projects for Norwegian funding worth approximately 20 million USD within the health and education sectors as well as for energy supplies.

As for budgetary support, a decision concerning specific payments will be made when necessary. The Government has said that it will await the situation in order to get clarification regarding the policy which the new government intends to pursue.

And thirdly, we will now support the President’s office directly.

This will improve its ability to work with the international donor community. Together with the President’s office we will now fine-tune the mechanisms for co-operation on these and other projects.

In conclusion: Norway stands by the Palestinian people in this situation. Our overall support this year for the Palestinian people will be on the same level as in 2005 or higher. Norway is poised to continue to play a constructive role in the Middle East".