On Wednesday, His Majesty King Harald and Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway welcomed the Slovenian president on a state visit to the Kingdom of Norway. On Thursday the visit continued and was concluded.
On Wednesday, the royals accompanied the President and his wife during the official welcome ceremony at the Royal Palace, the wreath-laying ceremony at Akershus Fortress and an exhibition on Slovenian contemporary design. The first day of the visit was concluded with a grand gala dinner at the Royal Palace.
Thursday began with a visit to Oslo University’s research park. President Pahor and Their Majesties arrived at SINTEF to open a Networking Seminar on Artificial Intelligence, Green Transition and Sustainable Solutions. This also marked new cooperation between Slovenia and Norway on these issues.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsKing Harald and Queen Sonja visited today the ski museum in Holmenkollen as part of the ongoing state visit from the president of Slovenia @BorutPahor
— Oskar Aanmoen ?? (@OAanmoen) November 7, 2019
Photo: Oskar Aanmoen / @RoyalCentral pic.twitter.com/RRdZ1TGJ2P
A welcome address was held by Ms Alexandra Bech Gjørv, CEO of SINTEF, as well as Norway’s Minister of Digitalisation and Slovenia’s Minister of Education, Science and Sport. Then a signing of the official agreement of cooperation followed before a walkthrough of the “Tech Exhibit: Zivid” – the world’s most accurate 3D real-time camera and presentation of Norwegian and Slovenian achievements – took place.
The President and the royals then went on to visit Holmenkollen Ski Museum. There they were received by Marianne Borgen, Mayor of Oslo. Erik Eide, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Ski Association then held a guided walkthrough of the museum. Their Majesties and President were introduced to the polar expeditions, the ‘Royal Family in Holmenkollen’ exhibition, including the exhibit of a pair of skis produced by Elan that were previously owned by His Majesty the King.
The King, Queen and President then together opened the panel exhibition “Slovene alpine architecture” followed by a guided tour of the exhibition. Next, it was time to get a unique view of Oslo. They took the elevator up to the jump tower and met with a Norwegian ski jumper. Before leaving, they signed the guest book and then attended a lunch hosted by the Government of Norway at the Prime Minister’s residence.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsKing Harald and Queen Sonja visited today the ski museum in Holmenkollen as part of the ongoing state visit from the president of Slovenia @BorutPahor
— Oskar Aanmoen ?? (@OAanmoen) November 7, 2019
Photo: Oskar Aanmoen / @RoyalCentral pic.twitter.com/3cTpuExCzX
Later, President Pahor and His Majesty the King arrived at the private business school in Oslo where they attended the seminar “The importance of bees: Seminar about pollination, green infrastructure and citizen science”. In the evening, they all gathered to attend a reception at “Gamle Logen” hosted by President Borut Pahor. Among other things, a concert by a Slovenian-Norwegian ensemble took place, and this concluded the state visit.
Norwegians and Slovenes share a passion for skiing, especially jumping and skiing, with Vikersund and Planica as the foremost facilities for the sport. King Harald and Queen Sonja could, therefore, show off the ski-jump arena at Holmenkollen with a guided tour through the museum and a Slovenian exhibition on alpine architecture.
