Royal couple to visit Oulu
Norway’s King Harald and Queen Sonja will travel together with several ministers in September.
According to the office of Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö, the Norwegian King and Queen are to arrive to Helsinki and Oulu from September 6 - 8.
The Norwegian Royal couple’s visit to Finland comes at the invitation of President Niinistö that together with his wife Jenni Haukio visited Oslo in October 2012.
During their talks in 2012, cooperation in the Finnish-Norwegian northern areas and in the Arctic was highlighted. Management of Arctic resources was discussed at a dedicated meeting with the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise.
It is expected that joint cooperation in northern areas will be on the agenda when the Norwegian King arrives in Oulu, the largest city in northern Finland and by many considered to be the technology capital of northern Europe.
Several Norwegian ministers will travel together with the King to Oulu, the Royal House of Norway informs.
This is not the first time King Harald visit northern Finland. In August 1940, after Norway was occupied by German forces and the Royal fammily had to escape, then-Prince Harald, together with his two sisters Princesses Ragnhild and Astrid travelled trough Finnish Lapland together with their mother, Crown Princess Märtha on their way from Stockholm to the United States.
From Rovaniemi, the Norwegian royals drove north to Petsamo, an area that those days belonged to Finland, and embarked the “American Legion” – the last neutral vessel sailing out of northern Europe towards New York.
