Sara Johannessen / VG / NTBRelated topics
Today Norway has been hit by two shocking, bloody and cowardly attacks.
We don’t know who attacked us. A lot of things are still uncertain.
We do know that many are dead and many are injured.
We are all shaken by the evil that struck us so brutally and so suddenly.
This is an evening that demands a lot from all of us.
The days to follow are going to be even more demanding.
We are prepared for this. Norway is united in times of crisis.
We grieve over those we lost.
We hurt with those who have been hurt.
And we feel for their loved ones.
This is an attack on innocent civilians. On youths at summer camp. On us.
I have a message for those who attacked us. And those who are behind it.
This message is from all of Norway:
You will not be able to destroy us.
You will not be able to destroy our democracy and our commitment to a better world.
We are a small nation, but we are a proud nation.
No one can bomb us to silence.
No one can shoot us to silence.
No one will ever scare us away from being Norway.
This evening, and tonight, we will look after each other.
Comfort each other, talk to each other and stand together.
Tomorrow, we will show the world that Norway’s democracy will become stronger in times of need.
We will find the perpetrators and hold them accountable.
The most important thing tonight is to save human lives and show all the victims and their families that we care.
I commend the police, the healthcare staff and everyone else doing a tremendous job in these hours to help people and limit the damage.
We must never give up our values.
Show that our open society will also pass this test.
That the answer to violence is even more democracy.
Even more humanity.
But never naivety.
We owe that to the victims and their families.