Norway pays tribute to victims on 5th anniversary of Breivik’s massacre

The Scandinavian Kingdom of Norway on Friday commemorated the fifth anniversary of the deadly attacks that killed 77 people in Oslo.

The tribute for the victims of Anders Behring Breivik, a radical Christian rightwing fanatic who on July 22, 2011, massacred dozens in Oslo and the nearby island of Utøya, took place in the capital’s Regjeringskvartalet district, in the presence of Crown Prince Haakon and his wife, MetteMarit.

“That summer day was one of the darkest in Norway’s history,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg said in her tribute speech, after the victims’ names had been read, one by one.

Breivik started his rampage by detonating explosives in a van and killing eight people in the city’s executive government quarter.

Then he went on to Utøya island and murdered 69 teenagers who were taking part in a summer camp run by the Workers’ Youth League (AUF), affiliated with the Norwegian Labor Party.

Solberg also mentioned some of the many cities struck by acts of terror in recent times, including Nice, Paris, Brussels, Istanbul, Beirut, Baghdad, Nairobi and Orlando.

She said that, although their ideologies may vary, all terrorists share a common language: violence, hatred and a contempt for democracy.

Weapons and violence are the means for extremists to create panic and fear, which is why it is necessary to give young people hope so that they regain their trust in democracy, Solberg added.

The prime minister said that Norway is an “open society” that cherishes the values of liberty and diversity.

After Solberg’s speech, the Crown Princes laid two wreaths made of white flowers on the site of the explosion, and all present observed a minute of silence.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who was prime minister at the time of the attacks, attended the ceremony.

Following the Oslo tribute, another public remembrance has been scheduled for Friday afternoon at the island of Utøya, where Breivik killed adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 in cold blood.

Last summer saw the return of young social democrats to the island’s summer camp, after three years of absence following the bloodbath.