Dear Ambassadors, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very pleased that so many of you have found time to be here this afternoon.

I want to extend a particular welcome to those of you who do not reside in Oslo.

This reception gives us an opportunity to meet and talk – in a way which is not always so easy to fit into the regular busy schedule !

I hope you will also find an opportunity to get to know some of the members of my Staff in The Prime Minister’s Office that are here, as well as senior officials from The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other ministries.

Since 19 October last year, Norway has had its first government consisting of the Conservative Party, the Liberal party, and my own party, the Christian Democratic party.

It is a co-operation government, that can now look back on its first hundred days with satisfaction. We have developed strong bonds of fellowship, and are working well together on our common political platform.

I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words about our foreign affairs priorities, and then, about the domestic political situation in Norway.

The events of 11 September and their aftermath have dominated the international agenda since we took office in October.

Much has been accomplished. But the campaign against international terrorism will need to go on:

Norway will continue to take its full part in the international coalition. We will do all we can to strengthen and broaden it. I discussed this with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan when he was here for the Nobel Ceremonies in December, with president Bush in Washington, and with the leaders of China and South Korea last week.

We will stand by the United States, our allies in NATO and other partners.

We will support the UN, in order for it to fill its key role in defeating terrorism.

We will intensify Norway’s humanitarian efforts, in Afghanistan – where we chair the Afghanistan Support Group, and elsewhere.

We will also continue to do what we can in promoting mediation and conflict resolution in various parts of the world, and offer our good offices and assistance.

Political, financial, diplomatic and military means will all be needed in the campaign against international terrorism. But we also need to look into and understand the underlying reasons for these evil acts.

That is why we intend to call a high level conference about these issues in Oslo in November.

11. September will be remembered as a dark day.

I hope it will also be remembered as a starting point for the rallying of a broad coalition, bringing together all countries, religions and civilisations in the defence of humanity.

The campaign against international terrorism ultimately is in defence of the fundamental values we believe in, democracy and the inalienable rights of all human beings, freedom, openness, tolerance and civilisation.

Evil actions of the kind we saw on 11 September are not caused by poverty or conflict. But poverty and conflict can provide fertile ground for extremism and violence. And globalisation gives terrorist action greater reach. It increases our interdependence.

This means that the battle against poverty, and for greater global justice, peace and security, and human rights, is more important than ever.

Development assistance and development policies remain a first priority for my government.

The challenges are great – but I see reasons for optimism:

While over all aid volumes fell during the 1990s, I think we over the last months have witnessed an increasing recognition that we must see results in the battle against poverty - for moral, political, economic and indeed security reasons.

There have been breakthroughs:

Debt-reduction for highly indebted countries. Increased resource mobilisation for basic health in poor countries – with GAVI and The Global Fund. The UN Millennium Report and its Development goals is a road map that nations have promised to follow. Development issues will and must figure prominently in the Doha trade round.

Norway will not let up on these issues. We will increase our development assistance, and pursue the international development agenda vigorously and with imagination, together with our partners.

Thirdly, on Europe: My government will continue a policy of the closest cooperation with our European neighbours and partners, and with the European Union.

Norway has fundamental interests in Europe, and we will continue to make good use of the EEA- and other agreements and understandings with the EU. We will take our full share of responsibility for stability, security and increased co-operation across the continent.

Over the weekend, I travel to Madrid for talks with the EU Presidency and Prime Minister Aznar. This is in keeping with a valuable tradition for us of close contacts with the EU presidencies.

No matter how good a foreign policy – we all know that voters judge Prime Minister’s and governments on the basis of their domestic politics !

And the budget is the basis for everything we do.

The 2002 budget was passed by the Storting with only minor changes, following a historic vote of confidence. We saw some setbacks in the Storting’s commissions, but not more than we are able to live with comfortably.

Some say the budget was one-sidedly Conservative. That is not correct. The Labour Government presented a budget proposal focusing on Christian Democratic issues like international development cooperation, kindergartens and health. At the same time, they made no cuts in other areas central to Christian Democrats, as efforts to reduce abortions, voluntary work, private schools and cash allowance for families with small children. This had already given the budget proposal a certain Christian Democratic slant.

Thus, it was important that the Conservative Party could recognise some of their concerns in our government’s revised budget proposal. This was primarily secured through tax relief. To the Liberal Party the strengthening of environmental efforts and the improvement of conditions for trade and industry is vital.

The 2002 budget is tight. We have stuck to the agreed rule for the use of the petroleum fund. We are now seeing results: The Bank of Norway has reduced the interest rate with 0.5 per cent. This is the first interest rate reduction since we last were in government.

In the basic document for the government drawn up before we took office, we have made plans for new policies, now to be introduced. We have set a new course in various fields:

• More room for the individual, the family and voluntary work
• Improved conditions for creative trade and industry
• Struggle for the poor and the persecuted, through increased development cooperation, debt relief for developing countries and increased respect for human rights
• Combating poverty in Norway
• Quality in basic services, such as education, health and care for the elderly
• A more offensive environmental policy
• A broad modernisation of the public sector, with more emphasis on competition and freedom of choice.
  

Thank you for your attention.