The International Willy Brandt Prize

Check against delivery.

 

Dear Sigmar, Egon and Peer,

Dear friends,

Thank you for your very kind words.

I receive this award with both gratitude and humility.

For me – as for all social democrats – the name Willy Brandt is associated with wisdom and respect.

An award in his name brings to mind our highest standards,

freedom, democracy, and solidarity.

It is a true honour to receive the International Willy Brandt Prize.

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For us Norwegians, Willy Brandt is an icon of the Germany that refused to be broken by the Nazis.

Together with Egon Bahr, he created a new eastern policy – Ostpolitik.

It was controversial at the time

– but a political monument today.

In 1972 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his initiative.

There are few who have deserved it more.

And seldom have I felt that we shared common belief in reconciliation and peace as strongly as I did when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989,

-and Willy Brandt’s quietly spoken words were etched into eternity:

“Jetzt wächst zusammen, was zusammen gehört.”


This was a great moment in European history

– for you Germans

– for us social democrats

– for all who share a belief in the power of mankind’s yearning for freedom.

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Today – nearly 25 years later – the atmosphere in Europe is not so optimistic.

Once again we are seeing incitement to hatred towards “the others”.

Jews, Muslims, Christians, gays, Roma, illegal immigrants.

We have seen this before.

And we know that it’s dangerous.

It’s important to see the signs – and respond in time.

Right-wing populist parties are recruiting new members.

Hate messages against immigrants and minorities are becoming more common in several countries.

At the same time, Islamist extremists are spreading their particular form of hatred.

In the name of God, they are attacking people in the West and disciplining their Muslim brothers and sisters through threats and violence.

For me this is all the same thing.

Extremism is extremism regardless of political allegiance, regardless of religion.

These are people who believe they have the right to cause suffering, to take lives in order to achieve their twisted goals.

No one can confer that right on themselves.

This is where we see a clear distinction between extremists of all types on the one hand,

-and the supporters of democracy of all types on the other.

This means that Islamist extremists have more in common with Neo-Nazis than anyone who respect democracy.

And Neo-Nazis and Islamist extremists share the same contempt for the rule of law and the principles of democracy.

Here we see evil come full circle.

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Norway has itself experienced how extremist ideas can culminate in mass killings and untold suffering.

And it is only a week since a major gas facility in the Algerian desert was attacked.

The Norwegian company Statoil is one of the owners, and many Norwegians were at the facility when the terrorist struck.

None of the hostage-takers’ demands were met.

But they did irreparable damage before they died.

Innocent workers from several countries were killed.

Hundreds survived,

– but will always bear with them the hellish memories of their experience in the desert.

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For me this was a brutal reminder of the events of the 22. of July 2011.

Of the murders of so many young people at a summer camp and of employees in the government office complex.

Eighteen months later, many are still reliving the sounds and smells of fear, suffering and death.

The attacks on the 22nd of July were also triggered by political ideas.

The perpetrator was a right-wing extremist.

His victims were innocent people.

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Then as now, our response is the same.

We don’t give in to terrorists.

They will never get their way.

They will never persuade us to turn our backs on democracy.

This was why my response to the attacks on the 22nd of July was unequivocal:

We must never abandon our values when faced with terrorism.

The answer to violence is even more democracy, even more humanity, but never naivety.

And that is still my answer.

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Dear friends,

Extremists can strike anywhere, and can harm anyone.

In London, Madrid, Oslo,

In Algeria or somewhere in Germany.

Each country must take action to protect its citizens.

But we also need a united international effort.

Cooperation between states, channelled through international bodies.

But most important of all – and this is my first message to you – each and every one of us must take responsibility.

We must all respond to, confront and fight against extremism regardless of where it comes from or where we meet it.

We must be honest, candid and unambiguous whenever we meet extremism.

Far too many people believe that extremism will go away if we ignore it.

It won’t.

This is why we must confront dangerous attitudes.

Always and everywhere.

We must stop extremism before it takes root and develops into violence.

We – European social democrats – must take the lead.

Our values are our weapons.

Our history is our reason for taking up the fight.

We have fought against fascism,

we have fought against communism,

now we must fight against extremism of all kinds.

We must never allow totalitarian forces to win over democracy.

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My second message is that we must address the reasons why young people in Europe are being drawn into extremism.

Look around Europe.

We can see a whole generation on the sidelines in many European countries. This is a danger signal.

This is a problem for individuals,

for people’s faith in the future,

and for people’s confidence in society.

No one knows this better than social democrats.

Exclusion leads to distrust and unrest.

It creates a breeding ground for trouble-makers who use increasing social insecurity to gain political headway.

This is why our common task is to give back to young people in Europe their faith in the future.

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In the wake of the events of the 22. of July, the whole world looked to Norway, and to AUF – the Norwegian Labour Youth League.

They saw the horrifying face of terrorism, but they also saw the wisdom of youth.

They saw young people who were not calling for revenge.

Who were united in their belief in democracy.

And they saw a Labour Youth League that Willy Brandt would have recognised.

Even as a young man, Willy Brandt was passionate about international solidarity, just like his friends in AUF.

He fought for equitable distribution and for a better world.

Just as AUF does today.

They often remind me about the global responsibility that social democracy entails.

I am therefore confident that Willy Brandt would have approved of my decision on how to use the prize money.

I will be donating this money to the fund to rebuild the youth camp on Utøya.

In this way, the prize will help to promote a sense of security and community for new generations of social democrats.

So that they can dream new dreams,

think up bold new ideas,

and further expand their sense of solidarity.

In other words,

a future in the spirit of Willy Brandt.


Thank you.