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Tonight, first of all, I will send a warm greeting to all those affected by the landslide in Gjerdrum. The terrible event deeply impresses us all.
I sympathize with you who are entering the new year with pain and uncertainty. With you who have lost your homes and are desperate right now and do not see the way forward.
At the same time, I would like to congratulate both the authorities, the emergency services and civil society for the great efforts that have been made under very demanding conditions. You still have a lot of work ahead of you. And, once again, we see people mobilizing to help other human beings in need. It makes me proud and moves me.
This catastrophe that has affected so many people comes to the end of a year that has been difficult for everyone.
That is why I am also sending warm thoughts to all of our people this New Years Eve, from Svalbard to Lindesnes, from the coastal communities in the west to the border villages in the east. My thoughts are with you who work and study abroad. And with all of you who wish you were somewhere else tonight. Who misses someone you love.
To all who feel lonely this New Year’s Eve:
He is not the only one who has that feeling.
To all who are tired and restless about the future:
I understand you so well.
It has been a year of disappointments, cancellations and postponements.
A year in which we had to put a lot of things on hold.
But then we can expect to have a lot to look forward to!
We live together in a pandemic, but it has affected us very differently.
For some, it was the year dreams were broken, work disappeared, and what was once painful got worse.
Others experienced that the family became more united and that we learned to appreciate the little life here and now.
For most people, it may have been a combination of most things.
I want to thank you all tonight.
Thank you for giving up family birthdays and russetid, weddings, good hugs, and beloved traditions.
Thank you for singing from the balconies, shopping for elderly parents, and staying away from each other, with sheer care.
The Queen and I miss each other as much as other grandparents who hug our children and grandchildren.
But then we sincerely hope that we will get a lot back in the new year!
In January, we have been kings for 30 years. During all this time, traveling through Norway and meeting people has been what has given us the most joy. We have missed these meetings a lot this year. But instead, like everyone else, we have stayed in touch with people in other ways. Among other things, we have received many letters.
We had some of the most moving on May 17th. Then we received several thousand drawings and greetings from schoolchildren in the capital, since this year they could not pass by train through the Castle. Several of the children put into words exactly what many of us feel:
“I miss everything socially. This was kind of brutal, “wrote a third grader.
“I can bake a cake by myself, but I need a friend who can eat it,” wrote another.
And I think we can all agree with Alva eight years that:
“I’m looking forward to everything being normal again.”
May 17 was for many, after all, a day of joy across the country. We had hardly dared to expect that. Just this year, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate a little more, as we mark the 75th anniversary of the release. And in that moment, our values, everything we built and created together, underwent the toughest test since the war.
Now we have shown that we have a popular government that also leads in times of crisis.
Which is based on mutual trust between the authorities and the people, and between people.
We have seen courage and action in situations where difficult decisions had to be made.
We have seen the importance of managing our values wisely and prudently over time. This has given us financial support when we really needed it.
We have experienced an impressive will, creativity and ability to think of new things when entire industries came to a standstill almost overnight.
And we have shown that we are willing to sacrifice much of what is ours for the good of the community.
One for the other.
We are in a dire situation, both in Norway and in the world. But crises force changes that can also be good and necessary, even if they are painful.
History has shown us time and again.
For a while we saw blue skies and clear water in some of the most polluted places on earth. We carry this photo with us.
It gives hope, shows opportunities and, at the same time, gives us a responsibility.
So dear all, where does the road go now?
We should probably be prepared to face a new year with uncertainty and difficulties, but also with good reasons for optimism.
Vaccines give hope to the whole world.
At the same time, these will continue to be difficult times for much of our society and our company. We will continue to have an unusual everyday life. You allow yourself to be scared, sad and desperate.
We must be generous with others and with ourselves. During the two days, the mood and mood fluctuate with all of us. It is completely natural.
I think a lot of people have gotten a little tired of the word “volunteer” now at the end of the year. Usually, volunteering means bringing a pattern to the community, which can end with a cup of coffee or a sausage, well satisfied after a joint effort. But we are not used to participating in work marathons for each of us, with an open ending.
Still, dear ones, it is precisely this ability to accomplish something together that has helped us move forward, both now and in the past. Now we must try to draw new forces that perhaps we did not know we had, in ourselves and as a society.
And we have to take care of each other.
I am especially concerned about our children and those who are young.
When it gets longer between guard posts, a lot of suffering and loneliness can go unnoticed.
Vulnerable youth are most vulnerable when they lose their network, or the person who tends to see them. The coach, the teacher, the father of a friend …
Now we must be “one” of the other. The one who stops and looks, who takes a phone call and asks. There are many in our country now who feel that life is somehow slipping away from them. Young and old alike think they have a hard time:
For young people, the void without social contact is completely unnatural.
For the elderly, every day is precious.
While we wait, as we continue to endure and live our days to the best of our ability, I am confident that we will learn something important that we can carry with us even after this is over:
I think many of us have recognized how good everyday life really is.
Isn’t that what we miss the most?
We miss good chores and regular activities that we have taken for granted. Being able to meet with friends, colleagues and family. Letting ourselves be touched and moved by experiences shared in a culture house or in a soccer tribune. We miss the spaces: the chatter at the coffee machine, the informal meetings in the store. It is often in spaces where valuable encounters take place between us.
We have also learned something more important: we tolerate more than we think. It provides internal security and strength, both individually and nationally. We will take this into account when the next test of strength arrives.
Dear all,
I can’t say that everything will be fine, or that everything will be as before.
A boy asked me in a letter: “King Harald, are you over a hundred years old?” To that I can answer: No, I am not that old. But I have been involved in many things throughout my life and I can promise you:
What we defend now will pass.
We have been through great trials before.
One day we will look back and ask ourselves:
How the hell did we do this?
Then we will know with ourselves that we achieved it because we use all the best, in each one of us, in our society, in our democracy.
We must know with ourselves that we got over it because we never gave up hope.
Because there is hope, there is a way of life.
Hope is will, hope is action.
The hope is to fix our eyes on something that makes sense to us and follow it.
Hope will lead us all to 2021.
I wish each and every one of you a happy new year!
