See here for more photos of the visit. All photos may be used freely if accredited to the Storting.

“The Quartet’s commitment to dialogue and democratic change is an inspiration to all those who work with democracy on a daily basis,” said the President of the Storting, Olemic Thommessen.

The President of the Storting; the First Vice President, Marit Nybakk; and the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence met this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winners, the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, at the Storting on 11th December.

A recurring theme during these meetings was how essential continuing Norwegian support for the democratic process was in the region.

Negative consequences

“If our democratic process in Tunisia were to fail, there would be major consequences for the whole of Europe,” Ouided Bouchamaoui, leader of the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, said at the meeting with Thommessen and Nybakk.

She stressed how important it was that the model for dialogue and democratic change, to which the quartet has made such a vital contribution in Tunisia, is held up as a viable alternative to dictatorship and extremism in the region.

In their meeting with the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, the Nobel Prize laureates pointed out that Norwegian democracy acts as an inspiration to Tunisia. They added that Tunisian democracy is vulnerable and threatened by terrorist groups whose aim is to undermine the democratic change.

 

The Dialogue Quartet meeting with the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. Photo: Morten Brakestad/Stortinget.

– An obligation

“The most important contribution Norway can make is to continue to hold up Tunisia as an example for the region and as a key country for investment, political collaboration and tourism,” Bouchamaoui said at the meeting.

The Dialogue Quartet is concerned to make sure that the international community supports democratic development and change in the country in different ways. It is also convinced that extremism is more than ever a joint Arab-European problem.

“Democracy in Tunisia is fragile. We have an obligation to support it to ensure that it moves in the right direction,” Anniken Huitfeldt, Chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, said after the meeting.

Read President of the Storting Olemic Thommesen's Nobel banquet speech on 10 December.