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Skymoen: Norwegian Royals Interested in Slovakia, Its Cities and People
Sunday 24 Octtber 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Slovakia will be honoured to welcome His Majesty Norwegian King Harald V and Her Majesty Queen Sonja to the country on October 25-28. To mark their first state visit to Slovakia, TASR has held an interview with Norwegian Ambassador to Slovakia Trine Skymoen in order to find out more about the couple, their visit, hobbies and homeland.
-It's known that the Norwegian royal couple enjoy travelling and that they travel a lot. What is the main aim of their foreign trips?-
You might say that they travel a lot. At the same time it's true that they go on a limited number of state visits. They go on two state visits abroad per year. And this year this is going to include Slovakia. We're very happy that it was indeed possible for Slovakia to host them ... and for the royal couple to come here, so they accepted the invitation to come here with pleasure.
-What is the main aim of the visit to Slovakia?-
The main aim of a visit is always to strengthen the contacts and relations between the two countries. In this case, with Slovakia, we have a very good basis, very good contacts and very good ties. And the purpose of the state visit then is to continue to build on these relations and also to promote Norwegian interests abroad.
A state visit is different from other official visits in the sense that the programme includes ceremonial elements. This means that there are more formal arrival and departure ceremonies, a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace. There are banquets, there is official entertainment and there are meetings between the heads of state and delegations. In addition to these ceremonial elements, a state visit may also include bilateral political meetings, business conferences, activities promoting culture, trade and industry, and visits to social and cultural institutions. The programme prepared by the hosts in co-operation with us [the Norwegian Embassy - ed. note] contains most of the activities that I've mentioned.
When the royal couple go on state visits they are accompanied by the Norwegian foreign minister and also other representatives of the government. Of course, when heads of state come on state visits to Norway, the King and Queen are their hosts.
-A question that will certainly be very interesting for the Slovak public is whether people will have a chance to see the royal couple.-
May I say that yes, the answer is yes, and it will also be interesting for the royal couple to see the country, to see cities, to meet people.
-What sort of programme has been prepared for the honoured guests in Slovakia? Have they been to Slovakia before?-
The host [President Ivan Gasparovic - ed. note] is lucky to have such a beautiful country to show to the royal couple. I know that the royal couple will enjoy Bratislava, they will go to Modra district and there are also plans for them to visit Banska Stiavnica, which is on UNESCO's World Heritage List. They will also see some of the countryside. This will be the first time that the couple has visited Slovakia.
-Do you mean the first official visit or the first visit ever?-
The first ever, as far as I know, the first. So it's going to be very exciting.
-What are the royal couple interested in?-
I can tell you that the royal couple take great pleasure in sports and outdoor recreational activities. These are very popular in Norway and - as I have seen during my one-year stay here - are also popular here. When I go hiking or walking or cycling on Sundays I always meet a lot of people.
King Harald enjoys spending time in the wilderness. He's an active hunter and also likes fishing. He's deeply concerned about issues regarding the environment and the protection of the environment. In fact he served 20 years as president of the Norwegian Chapter of the World Wildlife Fund.
His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen were actively involved in preparations for the Winter Olympics that took place in Norway [in Lillehammer - ed. note] in 1994. His Majesty opened the Winter Olympics and Her Majesty was also very active in preparing the cultural programme linked to the Olympic Games.
His Majesty is a distinguished sailor, so he participates in sailing competitions. In fact, in 1965, during the Olympic Games in Tokyo, he was the flag-bearer of the Norwegian team at the opening ceremony. He's won several competitions: [he became] World Champion in 1987, European Champion in 2005, and he still takes part in regattas.
Your current president was also present at the Olympics in 1994. Ivan Gasparovic wasn't the president at that time, but he was in Lillehammer.
Queen Sonja has many interests as well. She's particularly interested in art and culture. Her private art collection was exhibited on the occasion of the wedding of her son - the Crown Prince - and the Crown Princess.
As I mentioned, Queen Sonja took part in the preparations for the cultural part of the 1994 Olympics. When you see pictures and photos of the Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994, as well as in Vancouver this year, you can see the royal couple cheering and really giving their support. They are really, really interested in sport. Norway also had an ice-hockey team participating in the Olympics in Vancouver. We congratulate Slovakia, even though you beat us (laughter)... It's OK. You did a great job, it was so exciting.
Queen Sonja is very fond of skiing and hiking, which she does a lot. And the Queen is an avid photographer and has, for instance, organised presentations of some the places where she has been hiking in Norway.
-Can you tell us some interesting facts about the couple?-
Now King - then Prince - Harald was in fact the first prince born in Norway for 567 years. He has undergone military training and studied social sciences, history and economics as well.
The couple had known each other for nine years before their marriage received approval.
Her Majesty Queen Sonja has a diploma in dress-making and tailoring, she also studied social sciences, accounting, fashion-design, French, English and, of course, art, art history.
She is also very engaged in issues concerning refugees. In fact, she has been awarded the Nansen Medal by the UN High Commissioner for refugees for her efforts. Every year in Norway there's a big fund-raising TV event in late October. This year, the event will be aimed at helping refugees, so Her Majesty is very involved and it will take place under her auspices. In preparation for this, Her Majesty visited the world's largest refugee camp in Kenya in September, where she met families who've been living there since the camp was set up. The Queen met families who had just arrived, visited schools that provide the refugees with education and a platform for their future life. So when we say that Her Majesty is actively engaged, it's very true - she's very active in these matters.
-Let's now talk about the monarchy, as it's quite difficult for Slovaks to imagine what it's like to have a king and queen. What attitude do ordinary Norwegian people have towards the monarchy? What kind of relationship is the royal couple trying to develop with the Norwegian people?-
His Majesty's constitutional role is mainly representative and ceremonial. Executive power is vested in the government. His Majesty performs a great deal of important ceremonial duties. He's the one who opens Parliament - the formal opening of Parliament every autumn. He presides over the Council of State - government meetings at the Royal Palace. The King and Queen go on state visits. His Majesty also receives ambassadors, who are posted to Norway. They present their credentials to the King, just as we here present our credentials to the president.
His Majesty is also Commander-in-Chief of the country's Armed Forces and is the formal head of the Church of Norway. His day-to-day duties also include meetings with the foreign affairs minister and with other ministers, in order to be updated on the situation and international issues.
His Majesty also travels a lot within the country, in Norway. Both members of the royal couple do that. They try to visit as many places as possible in Norway. They visit small and large places and it's an excellent opportunity to meet the people of Norway and to meet them where they live, where they work, and to get to know what's going on, what their concerns are, etc. In Norway, they visit 46 municipalities. This frequent contact with people also means that people see them, they know them and their popularity is very, very high in Norway. Generally two countries are visited every year – two by the King and Queen, but His Royal Highness and Her Royal Highness Crown Prince and Crown Princess also visit. Each trip normally lasts two or three days.
-On what level are Slovak-Norwegian relations? In which spheres do Slovakia and Norway co-operate?-
May I say it's a pleasure to serve in a country with which we have excellent relations. We have very good relations in several areas. We have business co-operation that is still increasing. We have very good co-operation in several cultural fields through the European Economic Area (EEA) and Norway Grants, via which Slovakia is receiving €70 million over a five-year period that will end next year. It will receive another €80 million in the five-year period that will begin after that.
And that co-operation really does cover a great number of areas - it's cultural, it's environmental, it involves scholarships, so that young people can get to know each other, civil society, which plays a very important role in all countries - I could mention many things, we have 101 projects ... So, very good relations.
When it comes to co-operation, I have to mention Jan Garbarek as an example - a famous Norwegian jazz musician, who recently had a concert in St. Martin's Cathedral. That was a very successful combination of a wonderful, beautiful Slovak Cathedral and a very talented Norwegian jazz musician. To bring those together - it was really a good experience.
You can also see that through our EEA and Norway Grants, for instance, that the cultural sector, the protection of cultural heritage is very important. We support the protection and preservation of cultural heritage throughout Slovakia, but you can also see some of it here in Bratislava. You may know that the Reduta building is being renovated and it's partly being done with the support of the EEA and Norway Grants. It's very costly, so it doesn't involve only Norwegian money. It's definitely a joint project, but we are contributing almost €2 million.
When it comes to economic co-operation, there's the Norwegian company Slovalco in Ziar nad Hronom (Banska Bystrica region), for example, - A majority stake is owned by one of the largest Norwegian companies – Norsk Hydro ASA, and Hydro made that first investment in 1994. They've been here for 20 years, but this investment is providing technology and knowledge in order to help production at Slovalco become more efficient and more environmentally-friendly.
We also co-operate on the international arena, we're both members of NATO. Norway isn't a member of the EU, but you are ... and we co-operate closely in Europe, of course. We're both members of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, so we take our obligations seriously.
There's one thing I haven't mentioned. There are almost 250 Norwegian medical students in Martin. And that's quite a substantial number of Norwegian students abroad. I think that this connects us well and it's very good co-operation.
-What agenda does the Norwegian Embassy in Bratislava most often deal with?-
The main agenda for us now is the state visit. A state visit is the highest-level visit possible and we're very happy to help prepare a successful visit. So that's our main task at the moment, and after October 28 we'll start focusing again on the main issues that we normally work on. We'll work to further the results of the state visit, because the state visit will, we think and hope, contribute a great deal towards providing a good basis, a good platform for increasing our ties in business, culture, politics. So an important task for us, of course, is to follow up on this. And, as I mentioned, the EEA and Norway Grants. We'll enter the second period of such grants and, at the same time, the projects financed under the first period are being finalised, so it's going to be a busy period.
In general, we have an important role in promoting Norway, promoting Norway's interests. We want to inform Slovakia about Norway and, as I said, we believe that the state visit will increase awareness in Slovakia about Norway, but also about Slovakia in Norway. The media is also important in this respect. I look forward to seeing these results.
-What about economic co-operation between Slovakia and Norway? Are Norwegian companies still interested in Slovakia?-
There are already some Norwegian companies established here in Slovakia. Some of them made investments many years ago; some are newer on the market. I mentioned Norsk Hydro with its majority stake in Slovalco in Ziar nad Hronom. In addition, Sapa Profily in the same town is owned by a large Norwegian company called Orkla. There are two Norwegian companies in the Liptovsky Mikulas area (Zilina region) – Eltek Valera and Nera Networks. Then there's TIMM. TIMM is a rope factory, mainly producing ropes for boats. In fact, they produce ropes for the royal boatyard. So these are some examples of Norwegian business interests. And I mentioned that when the royal couple goes on a state visit abroad they're often accompanied by a business delegation. And they will be in this case as well. We're happy that there is quite a large level of interest among Norwegian businesses in coming to Slovakia and taking part in the business seminars and conferences that we're going to hold. And I hope that this will provide the basis for co-operation in the future.
- Are you aware of some of the major obstacles that investors face in Slovakia?-
Generally, the investment climate is good, and most Norwegian companies don't face any big difficulties. Some obstacles? - yes, I can think of one. One of the general challenges that we can see in reports drawn up by chambers of commerce here is that they are concerned about the perceived level of corruption based on Transparency International's index.
-Are Norwegian companies interested in advancement, capacity growth and the use of renewable energy sources in Slovakia?-
In fact, renewable energy will be one of the items on the agenda of a business seminar. One seminar will be devoted to looking into the opportunities for such co-operation, so we're very happy to see that. You have your own experience, we have ours. We have experience of wind energy, hydro-power and solar energy. Through the EEA and Norway Grants that I mentioned we also support a biomass project aimed at installing environmentally-friendly energy sources in schools. So these are some of the projects that we support.
-What opportunities do we have to import gas from Norway?-
You may be aware that Norway is the fifth-largest oil exporter in the world, and we're the third-largest gas exporter. And we're the second-largest exporter in Europe. Even though the Norwegian state has its own interests in the petroleum industry, decisions on selling oil or gas are commercial decisions, not political ones. Gas is generally a long-term thing. If you're going to sell gas directly from Norway to Slovakia, it traditionally goes through pipes. And you have to build those pipes. The European market is interlinked.
-What about tourism? Are Norwegians interested in travelling to Slovakia?-
I sometimes say that Slovakia is a treasure waiting to be discovered by Norwegians. There is interest, there is knowledge. We already have Slovak tourists in Norway. Some go fishing in the Norwegian fjords. Our countries have a lot in common. But one thing that we have and you don't are fjords. So that's quite interesting for Slovaks. When you measure the fish this is the biggest one.
-That's great. But how can this interest be increased even more? I suppose by new air-links between the capital cities.-
It helps a lot to have good flight connections when expanding tourism. I think that quite a large number of the Norwegian tourists that come here combine it with Vienna, because there's a direct flight from Oslo. I think that more people would come if there were direct flights to Bratislava. But, of course, that's up to the airlines. It's a commercial decision as well.
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