Your Royal Highness,

Representatives and friends from France, Poland, Great Britain and Germany,

Dear Veterans, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The fighting that took place in and around Narvik during the spring of 1940 has taken on great and lasting symbolic significance.

For Norway, Narvik was where we stood shoulder to shoulder with our allies for the very first time in the fight against a totalitarian enemy. For Europe, Narvik was proof that the Nazi war machine was not unbeatable after all.

The battle for Narvik is a story of remarkable achievement. It is impossible not to feel profoundly humbled. By the immense effort, by the perseverance, by the suffering.

Today, when we look up at the harsh mountainscape that envelops the town, we are struck by the drama of the events that took place here. A war, a crisis and a conflict became a horrific reality between these mountains. 

And when we look out at the fjord, we are gripped by the scenes that we know unfolded there. The waves a silent witness to brutal warfare.

Together they serve as a reminder of certain inescapable truths, no matter where we come from or for which side we are fighting:

War always has huge consequences.

The fight for freedom and democracy is never without cost.

Peace can never be achieved alone.

The five distinguished veterans who are with us today know this better than anyone.

Just as today we stand together with our allies in NATO, 75 years ago the joint efforts of the Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces were instrumental in the recapture of Narvik. In Norway we are and will remain deeply indebted to the support we received from our friends and allies.

And even if events proved this particular success to be short-lived, with the German troops taking Narvik again shortly after, it ended all the same – five long years later – with victory over Nazism in 1945.

A Europe in ruins was to rise again as a new community, based on equality, mutual respect and humanity. Carrying it forward was the belief that only through close and binding collaboration between nations could we guarantee ourselves against such things happening again.

The victors in 1945 had learnt from the lessons of the past. Instead of the humiliating peace from Versailles of 25 years before, they chose one for the future. A peace where the Nazi dictatorship was forced to take the consequences of its defeat. But also a peace designed to ensure that Germany would once again find its place among the nations of Europe. And that is exactly how peace has been maintained since 1945.

I have no doubt that the combatants and warring parties of today would benefit greatly from this knowledge.

I am especially glad that the German ambassador is here. This makes today’s ceremony in Narvik a clear expression of the spirit of reconciliation that our continent has been founded on since 1945.

Today we are commemorating that 75 years have passed since fighting raged in Narvik. Five of these years were spent in the most destructive war the world has ever seen. But of far greater joy and significance: the next 70 have been spent in peaceful coexistence in our part of the world.

Thank you.