Although Norway and Scandinavia are a safe corner of the world, we are also vulnerable. That is why it is important for me to convey: The authorities work through the summer. The police are on duty, PST is watching. And the government is constantly working on the most important task of politics: To take care of security and safety, for countries and peoples. It requires different answers in everyday life here at home and in foreign policy out there. But something is common; Strong communities are our most important defense. In the last week, I have experienced three meetings that in different ways show what fear and insecurity can be about in our time, in the lives of people and nations. But which also fills me with hope, because they each in their own way show what strength lives in us humans when we seek together, and how the vast majority of us want community and peace. The first thing happened at Rikshospitalet. There I met Samir, who had been shot two days earlier during the mass shooting outside the London Pub. It hurt to hear his story about that Friday night, when he thought he was going to die. And it hurts to hear about the fear that many queer people live with, and which has been reinforced after the attack. Not just for the threat of a man with a gun. But also from direct and indirect threats in everyday life. From social media. From looking at the street or at work, to violence and hate crime. The fear that someone will again take the step from hateful attitudes to violent acts. Greater society is clear that everyone has the right to love who you want to be and who you are. But for many, it is not experienced that way in everyday life. Several queer people say they have limited confidence that the police and the judiciary will do what it takes to give them security. It is serious and a clear signal that the struggle for real freedom for queers is not over. In all the pain, however, the visit to Samir also gave hope. “We will never let the terrorists and the haters win, so I will fight and get through this,” he told me from the hospital bed. The second meeting took place at the NATO summit in Madrid. A gathering that was heavily defined by Russia’s brutal attack on neighboring Ukraine. Europe has not seen anything like it since World War II. It spreads deep insecurity among other countries, especially those located in the border areas of Ukraine, and especially those who lived under duress during the Soviet era. I meet colleagues who sincerely say they fear that the war may come to them, that Ukraine is just the beginning. That insecurity led Sweden and Finland to take a historic step and apply for membership in NATO. In Madrid it became clear that both can be admitted as members. That same evening, I was able to meet my colleagues in the other four Nordic countries in the knowledge that Nordic cohesion and co-operation will now be even closer. We are finally united in a defense alliance that provides collective security in a troubled world. From Madrid I traveled into Ukraine, to the third meeting I want to tell about. I visited villages with bombed-out apartment buildings, hospitals and schools and met some of the 300 inhabitants of the village of Chernihiv, who were forced by Russian forces into a small basement where there was hardly any light or air, food or water. For 27 days they were held captive. Several of the elderly died. I stood face to face with deep wounds on people’s minds, a sincere fear and dread that it might happen again, that the Russians would return. Then I meet President Zelensky in Kyiv. He talks about what it is like to lead a country under attack. Zelensky also feels the fear. He is leading the fight against the invasion, and around the world he has become the face and voice of the resistance. It can look like a battle against supremacy. But the Ukrainians have strongly opposed. At the heart of the conversation, he says it’s clear to him; there is no alternative here. The Ukrainians are fighting together for survival, for people and countries. Nothing less. Do the three experiences, different in form and communication, have any common features? Yes. One is the recognition of fear and insecurity. The second is our answers in the face of insecurity. It is about the policy we adopt. About the attitudes we show. And about the strength of standing together. What we can adopt, first: We must face the threats of hate crime and violence with the sharp end; with police and intelligence that can prevent, protect and prosecute those who threaten our security. As allies in NATO, we can do as we did in Madrid; strengthen the collective defense so that no one makes the misjudgment it would be to attack. And in the face of Ukraine’s leaders; support their clear right to self-defense, and more than that; use our right to help them in this self-defense. So to the attitudes. The threats the meetings have been about have something in common: That the rights of people and nations are being jeopardized, violated, trampled on. The strongest defense is about the attitudes we mobilize together. In the face of hateful attitudes and actions against minorities who are queer, it is about striking back, in open terrain in the public debate, right around the coffee table in the canteen. Tell the truth about the threats. Show solidarity and support. Take the street back. In the NATO Alliance, we can reaffirm the foundations of a community that has evolved over 73 years; democracies that do not threaten anyone, but that stand together against threats from outside. And in the face of Ukraine, we must recognize that this is a struggle that does not only concern them, the people of Chernihiv and Kyiv or President Zelensky. The struggle is also about something more: about the defense of fundamental values. About freedom and democracy. About powerful opposition to the idea that the right of the strongest trumps everything. The shooting in Copenhagen yesterday is a new attack on our common freedom and security. It creates new fear. And is a new reminder of vulnerability. In the days to come, we will learn more about what caused the perpetrator to commit the horrific acts. Regardless of motive and background, our answer must be clear: We stand together in the face of violence and hatred. As individuals, we can feel powerless and vulnerable. It is when we go together, we become strong; in strong communities that prevent mental illness and radicalization, that have the power to go after environments that threaten our security, and that seek international cooperation and peace.
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Fellowship is our most important defense – Expression
