“I am proud to show my colleagues important institutions for democratic development and cyber security,” Mr Thommessen says. The programme includes a visit to the Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue in Lillehammer and to one of Europe’s top digital security research institutes, the Centre for Cyber and Information Security in Gjøvik.

The Speakers of Parliament in the NB8 collaborate in an effort to help other European countries strengthen their democratic systems and human rights. During the annual meeting they will take stock of their ongoing collaborative projects and discuss a range of future priorities. The NB8 countries are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.

The President of Germany’s Bundestag, Norbert Lammert, will analyse political trends in Europe and suggest how the parliaments of the Nordic and Baltic countries can strengthen freedom of speech and other democratic rights in their own countries and elsewhere. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, will deliver a speech on the strength of the checks and balances restraining populism in Europe, and on what can be done to safeguard respect for democratic values.

More than 32 million people live in the countries of the NB8, and together those countries represent the 10^th largest economy in the world. By working in common, they can contribute far more to the development of young democracies in Europe than they can do separately.