The Prime Minister's informal speech at the dinner at the Kirkenes Conference

As delivered (transcript from the audio recording)

(On the WWII in the Kirkenes area) Now, the Germans and Russians were fighting a most horrendous war, with terrible consequences for the Norwegian civilians, far too little known and talked about in Norwegian education. Let me say this, as a Prime Minister coming from Oslo, I won't say there are far too many films about the war in the south, but there are far too few about what really happened in the north in our national history, which we really need to understand. That it was an amazing drama that unfolded and the consequences it had. My mother-in-law came from Narvik and she told me about what it meant to escape without shoes, running up in the mountains, and there are numerous stories like that.

So, my message is the following. We have to be there for the moments where we can seize and shape our history and our direction. And there were times after 1990 where this moment was at our disposal. Thorvald Stoltenberg set up the Barents Cooperation. And we were able, and we had the responsibility, to go the diplomatic mile for the delimitation line, because there was a window of opportunity.

And I am very happy that we do not have a disputed border in the sea with Russia today. We had a hundred and seventy-five thousand square kilometres – think about it – a hundred and seventy-five thousand square kilometres disputed area in the Arctic and Barents Sea. And I would like to refer to you – some of you have heard me say this before – a conversation I had with my colleague (as Foreign Minister) at that time, Sergei Lavrov. It took place in the Royal Castle on the day of the visit of President Medvedev to Oslo in April 2010. And there were five people in that room who knew that evening that the next morning we would announce agreement on the delimitation line. So that was quite an evening. And I was asking Sergei, why do you think we were able to agree in the end? There had been 40 years of negotiations. So, we had a kind of a discussion back and forth at the table. And we came to the answer that there were three reasons:

First, a bit strange for me; there were governments on both sides in control. Now, what do you mean? But for him it was serious. Because in his story, in the 1990s, there was no control in Russia. And then gradually they got control and they could conclude that kind of deal. Point one. Point two, there was a shared interest. Both parties had interest in reaching that agreement. A small state cannot enforce such an agreement if there is not shared interest. And the third explanation, there was trust on both sides, between the experts who did the mapping calculations and between the responsible politicians. So, we ended up with an agreement cutting 175,000 square kilometres into exactly 50-50. And we drew the delimitation line according to the most modern principles of the Law of the Sea.

And it told me the story that this is also Russia, at that time. They were able to conclude that kind of deal. So, we seized that moment. And I think it was a good moment for us, which we can build on now.

My point is, now it is a different moment. It is a more complex moment. And, General, I was very moved today when you and I went out there to meet those young 20-22 years old soldiers, men and women who patrol our border with an immense sense of proudness and responsibility. And they do it in an absolutely impressive way. And this is serious. They have to do that work in a serious way, but they do it in a responsible way. So, this is how we now seize the moment.

And we have great ambitions for this part of Norway with its many opportunities. We have to strengthen our defence, but we also have to mobilize our civil capacities. Our ability to achieve and push knowledge and create values and new jobs based on these immense resources in this region.

And let me end by this. High North to me has never been a purely geographical notion. There is not a line in our map saying that is ‘high north’ and south of it is ‘deep south’. Because it is all Norway. A lot is assigned for Norway up here. That is why we have to mobilize the best of Norway. And to our guests from the diplomatic corps, we invite you also to mobilize the best of Europe. And the best of our Alliance, to bring both safety and predictability to how we develop this region. And I appreciate how our Allies in recent years have been attentive to the opportunities in this region.

So, with all this combined, I think that the Kirkenes Conference can continue to set agendas for a prosperous future. We have to seize the moment. Because that is where Norway has to be. We cannot dictate the moment. We can seize it, with our partners. And I think the Kirkenes Conference is all about that. So, thank you very much for coming and thank you for making this a great conference. Thank you.