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New government buildings

During World War Two, the Prime Minister's Office was out of these environments for five years. Now, this time, we were away for 15 years. – Since the bomb went off in 2011 and until we moved back into these new quarters. So, it was a historic moment.

We are now 2 200 people working here. We will be about 4 000 plus. And it is a modern building in a combination of wood and concrete. We bring all our ministries together. It is a bit different – in different capitals, because we have a different history. We have had ministries spread around, and to keep that would have been complicated, much more expensive, because we would have to secure roads and corners and buildings.

So, working in one modern environment like this is new and it is good. I was Foreign Minister for seven years and always on the outside of everything. You always needed to put on your coat to walk somewhere to see people. And now I walked from my office to Espen Barth Eide's office, the foreign minister, and it took one minute and 40 seconds.

If I can start in a somewhat lighter corner. This is the weekend of the Champions League final. You know that I am an above average sport interested person. I just have to mention that we've had a great football season in Norway. Bodø/Glimt doing well in the European games. And now we have a Champions League finale where one of the clubs has a Norwegian captain – Arsenal. And seeing a Norwegian captain lifting the trophy of the Premier League is still – for Norwegian football interested people – quite something, although my club is not Arsenal. This is special. And then we are three weeks away from the World Cup in the US, which is going to be a major event. We were there in 1998 and we're back now with a team which has great players, a great team. But I have another dear interest, which is a bit more Nordic and that is ice hockey. Now we have an ice hockey team that wins against Sweden, which is of course, remarkable. And they will be in the semi-final against Switzerland tomorrow. – Just to give you a highlight of other issues.

The Narvik Agreement

I'll make four points. I came back from Paris yesterday, after having witnessed the signing of the Narvik agreement between Norway and France. This is a continuation of what we call the hedging strategy of the Norwegian government in today's world's security environment.

Norway has its security anchored in its own modern defense – we are just about to negotiate an updated long-term plan of our defense in the Parliament. And my objective is still to get a very broad majority for that plan. Then there is, of course, NATO, which is the framework for our collective security. And the US in that equation is our most significant ally, especially when it comes to conditions up in the High North.

But Europe has to take more charge, and has to take more of the bill and more of the responsibility for security in Europe. We are doing that by increasing our spending. Not spending one-by-one, but integrating in regional plans. Our Norwegian government strategy is, as I said, to hedge – with deeper cooperation with our closest geographical Allies – the Nordics. We are now all in NATO and more coordinated together. And we have a defense and security agreement completed with the United Kingdom, with Germany and now with France. So, the three major European countries are now part of a deeper, more reciprocal relationship we have.

In addition, Norway will join Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Germany, UK, Greece and Netherlands to have a dialogue with France on the development of their nuclear deterrence. – Which is not changing Norwegian policy on this issue one bit. We still have our line of not having nuclear weapons on our soil in peacetime. This will not change. And Norwegian's objective is still to work and contribute where we can for arms control and reduction of the nuclear arsenals in the world.

But it is a sign which I think is right, that France, which has its own sovereign nuclear capability, engages with its European partners to exchange more of how they think around deterrence and how deterrence works in the broader setting. We have nuclear deterrence in the NATO strategy. So that is already a given. But having more dialogue with France on this, is something we are open to develop. But again, it is an important thing that we now have these comprehensive defense deals with three major European countries.

The Nordics and India

Another issue, on the Nordic-Norwegian scene, is the visit by Prime Minister Modi of India to Norway two weeks ago. I really appreciated that visit. And the preparations for it – and what it led to. It was a follow-up of what has been a Nordic-India dialogue and cooperation since 2018. There was a Nordic-India meeting in Sweden and then in Copenhagen. So, I raised my hand and said that next time it will be in Oslo.

So, this is the meeting that took place now. It was first a bilateral visit where we deepened our cooperation with India in a number of areas. This is a very important and promising partnership for us. We have a trade agreement with India and our EFTA partners. We made that ahead of the European Union’s. It is the most comprehensive trade agreement we have made of that kind, which is going to lead to major investments by Norway in India. And also, a lot of opportunities for cooperation in science, and in a number of areas like artificial intelligence, where India now stands out as a very important partner.

And then, on day two, we had the Nordic-India meeting. The Nordics are not a decision-making body in itself. But the fact that we can sit around the table together and discuss issues such as security, artificial intelligence and climate change is a strength.

The Arctic

My third point – always when you come and see me – the Arctic. We are in the High North. Our strategy of saying “High North, low tension” remains our main line. Also, my policy – which has remained for the 20 years I've been in office or close to office – is to say that Norway should be aiming for having some kind of ‘steps ahead’ when it comes to thinking how the Arctic can be organized and secured.

Part of our defense and security is again, based on “High north, low tension”. We will be present there. We will monitor what is happening up in the North. And we will do what we can to encourage cooperation and close partnership with Arctic states. It is all being made more difficult by the war in Ukraine and Russia's role in that. The Arctic Council still exists, but it's operating at a lower intensity.

But I believe that the Nordic voice in the Arctic family, ‘the Arctic seven’, is critically important. And the solidarity that we have seen in the Nordic family for the Kingdom of Denmark when it comes to standing up for Greenland and its role in the kingdom, has been very consistent and well worked out. In NATO, we have worked on an Arctic strategy together, these seven countries. – Which I think will be reflected in the NATO summit in July. And that's how we want it to be.

The Law of the Sea applies in the North. Some deal with the Arctic as though it is some kind of ‘terra nullius’ – an area where no rules apply. They apply. Coastal states have rights and obligations. The Arctic will also still be ‘the canary in the mine’ when it comes to climate change, because it is happening more rapidly up there and we can learn from it. And that is why we have to be very clear on that.

Domestic politics

On domestic politics, I will be very brief and just say that we are in the final stage of the parliamentary session. Each parliamentary session has its own history. Norway is the only country in Europe where you cannot dissolve the Parliament. The Parliament we choose is there for four years. If we go to France for example, I was there two days ago, the French president dissolved the parliament. They had a new election and now a minority government. And France is not really equipped with institutions to deal with that. We are.

There's a majority pointing at me and my party to lead the government. We have 28%, reflected in the Parliament. So, we will win some and lose some. But what we lose and what we win has to be on the side of what I can defend as our integrity and our ability to get our policies through. – And so far, I think we are on a steady course. We are now working on the final stage in Parliament. A lot of issues will be decided in the next three weeks.

The defense being one major thing and of course the revision of the budget mid-term is another. But I'm optimistic on this. I think the parties – since we can't dissolve Parliament – the parties have to take responsibility and live up to that to the voters.

There are also many other issues, Richard, on what we see in the Middle East. We follow this closely. We hope there will be a continuation of ceasefire, some kind of deal. It is very complicated; what brought us into this and where we are now and the rippling effects of a closed Hormuz Strait.

(Then there were questions and answers).