King Harald turns 86 tomorrow. The day will be celebrated privately, as it was last year. Private celebration notwithstanding – it wasn’t just the king’s closest who gave him a greeting when he had a “round birthday” and turned 85 on 21 February last year. On the royal house’s official gift lists, which are published on the website every year, there is one head of state listed who gave King Harald a gift for his 85th birthday last year: Russian President Vladimir Putin. “A hand-painted decorative urn in porcelain from the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory – given on the occasion of the birthday,” says the gift list on Kongehuset.no. The king received this vase as an 85th birthday present from Vladimir Putin. Photo: Det kongelige hoff The imperial factory has roots dating back to the tsarist era in Russia and makes exclusive porcelain. The castle informs news that it is a 46 centimeter high vase that was sent to the king via the Russian embassy in Norway on 21 February last year. Dramatic time The birthday present came at a tense time for Europe. While the flag at the Castle went to the top for King Harald, who himself was away on holiday on his birthday, there was a dramatic development in Russia. On February 21 last year, Vladimir Putin gave a speech to the people, in which he recognized Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine as independent. Photo: SPUTNIK / Reuters In a televised speech on the same day, Vladimir Putin recognized Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent. A turning point in Europe’s history and a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, said Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt and condemned the decision. It was heading towards war in Europe. Three days later, on February 24, 2022, Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine. It was not many days before King Harald interrupted his holiday due to the outbreak of war. The monarch returned home to Norway and was ready to lead the cabinet in the dramatic situation that had arisen. Both King Harald and Queen Sonja wore Ukrainian colours, the king with a pin on his jacket, and the queen with a scarf and sweater, when they were in Holmenkollen at the beginning of March last year. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB He posed shortly after with a pin with the Ukrainian colors during the show jumping in Holmenkollen. Dressed in a blue and yellow tie, after a few weeks he visited Ukrainian refugees who had just arrived in Norway. – It is absolutely terrible, what is happening, said the king. King Harald and Crown Prince Haakon described a moving meeting with Ukrainian refugees in Oslo three weeks after the outbreak of war. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Letter of thanks to Putin The weeks passed, and the war continued. The images from Butsha outside Kyiv, the city that was liberated at the end of March after being occupied by Russian forces, shocked the world. At the same time, diplomacy took its course. On April 5, the king thanked the Russian president for the birthday present. The letter of thanks to Putin was sent from the Palace via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Embassy in Moscow, the Palace informs news. – Did the king consider whether it was right to accept this gift? – As head of state, the king receives a number of gifts each year from other countries’ heads of state and diplomats. The king always accepts these gifts and thanks them for them, says communications manager Guri Varpe at Slottet to news. The Russian embassy in Norway confirms to news that the vase was given to King Harald on the occasion of his 85th birthday. “The gift was given for His Majesty’s jubilee in accordance with protocol custom established with us,” the embassy writes in an email. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs news that it is not usual to refuse gifts, and that it is also not usual for the Royal Household to inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about gifts or letters of thanks. The pictures from Butsja told a story of many killed and enormous destruction. Photo: Rodrigo Abd / AP – A delicate situation A very delicate and tricky situation, says political commentator and former diplomat Eirik Bergesen. – This was a complicated situation, given that the king received the gift before the outbreak of the war and had to give thanks after the outbreak, he says. Vladimir Putin together with King Harald and Queen Sonja at the Palace during Putin’s visit to Norway in 2002. Photo: Tor Richardsen / NTB He still believes that not accepting the gift from Putin would worsen an already dramatic situation. – I can understand that it may seem strange, but there is a point in having diplomatic relations also with countries with which we are in political conflict. The fact that we talk to them is not a recognition of what they stand for politically. It is the nature of diplomacy that we keep the communication channels open, says Bergesen. – One day the war in Ukraine will end, but our neighborhood with Russia will never end. Iver B. Neumann, director at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute and researcher on diplomacy, points out that in this case it is the head of state King Harald – in practice Norway – who has received a gift, and not the private individual. – If you say no to gifts, there will be a rift between the heads of state. You have to be careful with that, says Iver B. Neumann. Photo: Jan Dalsgaard Sørensen – You can say no, but there are costs involved, so it’s very, very far down the line. – This is of course a balancing act. On the one hand, they want to show disgust for a war of aggression that is conducted in a dirty way, on the other hand, they want to maintain some contact with Russia. Then you can weigh the pros and cons, says Neumann. Partying with Russia Norway now has no political contact with Russia. But contact at the diplomatic level remains. It was also reflected when King Harald and Queen Sonja held a gala dinner for foreign diplomats in Norway a week and a half ago. Among the guests was Russia’s leading representative in Norway, Ambassador Teimuraz Ramishvili. Wearing a gala uniform, the Russian ambassador entered the gala dinner at the Palace on 9 February this year. Norway’s Minister of Defense Bjørn Arild Gram walked right behind him. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB “Norway normally has diplomatic relations with Russia. The Russian ambassador will therefore initially be invited in contexts where the entire ambassadorial corps participates,” writes UD to news. – Russia is an aggressor state that commits unimaginably gross war crimes in Ukraine every single day. It is obvious that I and the Helsinki Committee would prefer to see the Russian ambassador kept outside the Palace, and that their gifts were returned with a no thank you greeting, says Berit Lindeman, Secretary General of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. Berit Lindeman would prefer to see that Russia was left out of the gala dinner at the Palace, and that no gifts were accepted. Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB – We should demonstrate in every conceivable way the extent to which we condemn Russia’s abuses and ensure that Russia is a pariah state in the world. At the same time, we have to accept that there are still some pockets where the exclusion is not total, says Lindeman. – This is connected to the fact that we choose to continue to have diplomatic contact with Russia by having ambassadors in each other’s capitals. We get little out of these connections now, but we can hope that it can put us in a better position to get Europe out of this mess in the long term. In the big picture, banquettes and porcelain vases become annoying pebbles, but not decisive for the big and important questions.
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King Harald received a birthday present from Putin – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
