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Norway

Slovenia’s State Visit to Norway – Day 1

King Harald and Queen Sonja have welcomed the President of Slovenia on a State Visit to Norway. In accordance with Norwegian royal tradition, the visit began with an official welcome ceremony at the Royal Palace.

President Borut Pahor was received by Their Majesties King Harald V and Queen Sonja and escorted to the pavilion of honour. Here the National anthems were played followed by an inspection of the Guard of Honour. The King presented also presented Norweginan officials to President Pahor. King Harald, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon greeted representatives of the Slovenian Community in Norway and school children.

The royals and the Slovenian president and first lady then went in to the castle for official photos taken in the Bird Room. The King and Queen accompanied the president during the wreath-laying ceremony at Akershus Fortress. The National Anthems were played on arrival before President Pahor, was escorted by the Commandant of Akershus Fortress, Brigadier Trond Kotte to inspect the Guard of Honour. He then laid a wreath at the National Monument.

Lunch was held at the Royal Palace and included carpaccio of moose with artichoke and spruce-tree-mayonnaise, followed by fish and crawfish with potatoes a la Sonja and Beetroot-ravioli. The dessert was chocolate and wasabi.

Then, President Pahor visited the Norwegian parliament. He also later that day met with Prime Minister Erna Solberg. President Pahor was received by Ms Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen, President of the Parliament. King Harald and Queen Sonja again met President Pahor during an exhibition on Slovenian contemporary design. The royals were welcomed by Ms Anja Zorko, Head of the Centre for Creativity at the Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana. Then followed a guided tour of exhibition by some of the designers. Wednesday was concluded with a gala dinner at the Royal Palace.

The visit continues on Thursday. King Harald and Queen Sonja will among other things visit Oslo University’s research park, with a programme highlighting artificial intelligence, green change and sustainable solutions. It will show off the Norwegian innovation “Zivid”, the world’s most accurate, real-time 3D camera and Slovenian artificial intelligence and circular economy technology. A cooperation agreement between SINTEF and Slovenian Jožef Štefan Institute will also be signed.

This is the first time Slovenia’s president is visiting Norway. The trip is a revisit after the King and the Queen’s state visit to Slovenia in 2011. Norway and Slovenia have always had good relations and political cooperation especially since Slovenia joined NATO in 2004. Since then, cooperation has strengthened as the nations are now also military allies.

About author

Senior Europe Correspondent Oskar Aanmoen has a master in military and political history of the Nordic countries. He has written six books on historical subjects and more than 1.500 articles for Royal Central. He has also interview both Serbian and Norwegian royals. Aanmoen is based in Oslo, Norway.