Copenhagen, July (dpa/GNA) – Norway commemorated the 15th anniversary of the twin terrorist attacks in Oslo and on the island of Utøya on Wednesday, honouring the 77 people killed by right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik, while warning of a resurgence of far-right extremism.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Gaute Børstad Skjervø, head of the youth wing of Norway’s Labour Party (AUF) and a survivor of the Utøya massacre, laid wreaths at a new memorial in Oslo’s government quarter as the names of the victims were read aloud. “Norway has been grieving for 15 years,” said Skjervø. “Many were aware that it was our children who were killed, but no one can fully comprehend the grief of the bereaved.” “We admire you,” he said, paying tribute to the families. “How you have managed to go on living. How you have shown that it is possible to find happiness again, to pick yourselves up, and to keep fighting.”
Skjervø and support groups also warned of a rise in online hate messages from far-right extremists. “In the next 15 years, we must fight a new wave of right-wing extremism,” he said, urging Norwegians not to respond to hatred with hatred but with solidarity and love.
Speaking at the ceremony, which took place not far from the site of Breivik’s bombing in 2011, Prime Minister Støre called for the attacks and the ideology behind them to continue to be discussed openly. “We must continue to speak openly and honestly about what happened, about the terrorist’s motives, his background, the consequences of right-wing extremism, hatred and contempt for democracy,” he said.
The story of the politically motivated mass murder must continue to be told and explained, he added, particularly in response to falsehoods and conspiracy theories claiming the attacks had been staged.
King Harald V and Queen Sonja attended a memorial service at Oslo Cathedral, where Development Minister Åsmund Aukrust, another survivor of the Utøya attack, also spoke. A remembrance ceremony was also held on Utøya.
On July 22, 2011, Breivik detonated a car bomb in Oslo’s government quarter, killing eight people. He then travelled to the island of Utøya, where he posed as a police officer and opened fire on participants at the annual summer camp of the Labour Party’s youth organization. Sixty-nine people, most of them teenagers and young adults, were killed on the island. The attacks were the worst acts of violence in Norway’s post-war history.
Breivik was sentenced in 2012 to 21 years in prison, the maximum sentence available at the time. Norway’s domestic intelligence service (PST) warned ahead of the anniversary that Breivik has increasingly become a source of inspiration for right-wing extremists in Norway and abroad, particularly since the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks in New Zealand.
Speaking at the Utøya memorial, Merete Stamneshagen, head of Norway’s national support group for victims whose daughter was killed in the attack, said the ideology behind the massacre had not disappeared but had instead found new ground to flourish. “It inspires new acts of terrorism, and we hear its echoes and hatred from living rooms and from podiums,” she said.
GNA