Our national narrative needs to make room for immigrants, parliamentary president olemic thommessen stated in his May 17 speech.
Thommesen used a good part of his speech which. in line with tradition was held at 9 o’ clock by the Christian Frederik Statue at Eidsvolls place outside Storting, to talk about what it means to be Norwegian.
– In the 19th century Arne Garborg and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson discussed whether being Norwegian had to do with whether you spoke bokmål or nynorsk( Norway Today comment:the two variants of Norwegian, which along with the Lapp language are the official languages of Norway). Today 228 languages are spoken in Oslo, and when people discuss what it means to be a Norwegian,whether you speak bokmål or nynorsk is no longer that important ,the parliamentary president pointed out.
– Today’s debate needs to be about how we live together in a way where we despite differences build a spirit of community around our fundamental values, Thommesen said. He also pointed out that 51 refugee families have been invited to participate in the parade in Horten this year.
– It’s not about compromising what we pride ourselves of in our own society. It’s about inviting others inside and be open to that our own may become even better, the parliamentary president said.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today