State visit to Switzerland

Mr President,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

The Queen and I are delighted to be here in Switzerland on the first Norwegian state visit since 1968, when my father, King Olav, visited your beautiful country. We have appreciated your warm welcome. Today, we have had a most interesting day in Bern. We have enjoyed fruitful discussions and have had the opportunity to get to know you, Mr President, even better, and not least to learn more about Switzerland.

In fact, Switzerland and Norway have always enjoyed excellent relations, due in no small part, I think, to the many similarities between our countries and our peoples. Having seen different parts of Switzerland, both today and during earlier visits, I know that your country is blessed with beautiful nature, as is Norway.

Both our countries depend on nature, and we have learned to respect it. We share concerns about the environment and, based on experience acquired through generations, we are trying to make wise decisions to safeguard our future. Both our countries have the will and the determination to combine technology and innovation to ensure sustainable development. I am particularly pleased to see that companies from both our countries are cooperating on projects to develop renewable energy sources.

I am also proud to say that we share a humanitarian tradition and interest. Henri Dunant, the founder of the International Red Cross was the first Nobel peace laureate to receive the prize in Oslo. He inspired, among others, the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen. In the spirit of Dunant and Nansen, Switzerland and Norway continue to place great emphasis on human rights in international affairs.

Whether it is due to its efforts to promote peace, human rights and sustainable development or its stunning nature, I dare not say, but Switzerland certainly holds an attraction for many people. Many tourists come to your country to experience the magnificent Swiss Alps, the charming small villages and the hospitality of the Swiss people. I am very impressed by your tourist industry, which seems extremely well organised. You clearly have a great deal of experience in offering people memorable holidays. As a tourist who has returned to Switzerland several times, I can vouch for that. Perhaps we can take some new ideas for our own tourist industry back to Norway. We have plenty of space for more Swiss tourists along our fjords!

Over the years, many Norwegians have also come to Switzerland to study. They are attracted by the excellent opportunities for higher education, especially at the ETH/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and the University of St Gallen. Tomorrow, a joint Swiss-Norwegian seminar on Sustainability Challenges for Business will be held in St Gallen, with a large number of participants from both Switzerland and Norway. I hope this will provide a basis for further cooperation and sharing of expertise between educational institutions in our two countries.

As we face a Europe in transition, our relations with the EU are also of great importance. Like Switzerland, we cooperate closely with the EU and promote development in Europe to reduce the economic and social disparities that still exist on our continent.

All nations need political and cultural impulses from outside. As a relatively small country in the far North of Europe, Norway has a long tradition of being open to input from other nations. I believe this has helped us to develop into a dynamic society that is not afraid of changes and challenges.

Henrik Ibsen, perhaps the most famous Norwegian ever, was especially aware of the importance of being able to adapt to new ideas and thoughts. He wanted his countrymen to wake up and to focus on the great questions of life. He wanted them to take a broader approach to these questions and to look beyond the borders of their country. Ibsen had the courage to put many sensitive issues on the agenda, as we see in his plays. A hundred years after his death, his views on equality between men and women are still relevant, and they will be the topic of discussion at the seminar on gender equality in Zurich tomorrow.

This year we are commemorating the centennial of Ibsen’s death throughout the world, including here in Switzerland. Tomorrow afternoon, the Queen will have the pleasure of opening the Ibsen exhibition Dichten bedeutet sehen in the Schiffbauhalle in Zurich. I hope this exhibition will further increase interest in Ibsen’s works.

Parallel to this state visit, a number of seminars and meetings are taking place. They show the many points of contact between Switzerland and Norway. That being said, I think there is potential for even closer cooperation between our countries, and I am confident that both our nations would benefit from increased exchange of information and knowledge in a number of areas. Perhaps the events planned parallel to this visit will be useful as starting points in this regard.

Our shared values and the personal links and other strong ties between Switzerland and Norway form the solid foundation on which our relations are based. One of the Swiss gold medal winners at the Turin Olympics, the snowboarder Tanja Frieden, has a Norwegian mother and holds both Swiss and Norwegian citizenships. She speaks Norwegian, and has represented Norway in the World Cup. She is truly a symbol of the close ties that exist between nations in a modern and globalize world. I am confident that the bonds between our two countries will remain strong and help us to meet the common challenges we will face in the future.

I would now like you all to join me in a toast to our Swiss hosts, to the people of Switzerland and to the friendship between our countries.