Norway

"Norway would have been better off inside the EU."

"For many generations, Norway, with its homely, rugged population engaged in trade, shipping, fishing, and agriculture, had stood outside the turmoil of world politics. Far off were the days when the Vikings had sallied forth to conquer or ravage a large part of the then-known world. The Hundred Years War, the Thirty Years War, the wars of William III and Marlborough, the Napoleonic convulsion, and later conflicts had left Norway―though separated from Denmark―unmoved and unscathed. A large proportion of the people had hitherto thought of neutrality and neutrality alone. A tiny army and a population with no desires except to live peaceably in their own mountainous and semi-Arctic country now fell victims to the new German aggression."

"Yesterday, on the 17th of May, we Norwegians celebrated our constitution day to mark the signing of Norways constitution in 1814. Maybe it is because we are a small country: In Norway this is an important day. All over Norway children have paraded in their best clothes to the music of thousands of marching bands, and countless speeches have been made to remind each others, as fellow Norwegians, that freedom should never be taken for granted."

"We have been given an assignment as a monarchy, and we do as well as we can … We try to be as little populistic as possible. We dont do anything on the spur of the moment to win an opinion poll, or short-term popularity."

"The Northmen are often said to have burst out of their coastal settlements in what is now Sweden, Norway, and Denmark at the end of the eighth century. The most famous account of their arrival into the Christian realms of the west comes from Britain. In 793 warriors appeared off the coast of Northumbria, leaped from their ships, and robbed the island of Lindisfarne, desecrating the monastery and murdering its brothers. This ferocious raid sent shock waves rippling out from Britain. When the news reached Charlemagne’s court in Aachen, Alcuin of York wrote to the king of Northumbria, deploring the fact that “the church of St Cuthbert is spattered with the blood of the priests of God, stripped of all its furnishing, exposed to the plundering of pagans.” He suggested to the king that he and his noblemen might mend their ways, starting by adopting more Christian haircuts and clothing styles. But it was too late for any of that. The Northmen had announced themselves as a major power in the western world. The next year, 794, raiders appeared on the other side of the British Isles, in the Hebrides. In 799 Vikings raided the monastery of Saint-Philibert at Noirmoutier, just to the south of the river Loire. Sixty years later Viking raids would be a painful feature of life not only in the North and Irish Seas but as far away as Lisbon, Seville, and north Africa, as Northmen tangled with Anglo-Saxons, Irish, Umayyads, and Franks. In 860 a band of Viking-descended warriors from what is now northwest Russia even sailed to Constantinople via the river Dnieper and the Black Sea, and laid the city under siege. Although exposed only to a tiny part of this, the chronicler of Noirmoutier wrote what could have been an epigram for the entire age: “The number of ships grows, the endless stream of Vikings never ceases to increase . . . the Vikings conquer everything in their path and nothing resists them.”"

"Relations between Malaysia and Norway have grown steadily in a very short span of time, founded as they are on our commitment to the free enterprise system, our pursuit of close regional cooperation in our respective regions and our abiding faith in, and commitment to, the ideals and aspirations of the United Nations. There have been a number of high-level exchange of visits between our two countries in the past two years. I am glad to say that the relations between Malaysia and Norway have been on the upswing since my visit to Oslo last year. The signing of the agreement for the parallel financing by Norway of two mini-hydro projects in the States of Kedah and Selangor is yet another milestone in our bilateral relations."

"We talk about the people who came to Russia with an intention either to work or to visit relatives. They had not declared that their real purpose of the visit was to flee to Norway. This means that they had deliberately provided false information about the purpose of their visit to Russia. This is why we do not want to take these people back."

"Norwegians believe in God, Allah, the Universe and nothing."

"I have to say that everybody from David Cameron to half this panel say, "Wouldnt it be terrible if we were like Norway and Switzerland?" Really? Theyre rich. Theyre happy. Theyre self governing."

"It is typical norwegian to be good."

"My greatest hope for Norway is that we will be able to take care of one another. That we will continue to build this country – on a foundation of trust, fellowship and generosity of spirit. That we will feel that we are – despite our differences – one people. That Norway is one."

"come from North Norway, , – and all of the other regions. Norwegians have immigrated from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Poland, from Sweden, Somalia and Syria. My grandparents came here from Denmark and England 110 years ago."