The Swedish prime minister has come under fire from some quarters for keeping too low a profile in the days following the tragic incidents in Oslo and Utøya, and more specifically for not attending the memorial service in the Norwegian Church in Stockholm.
However he refused to respond to questioning about it when he made a speech at the scout meeting near Kristianstad on Saturday. Instead, according to newswire TT, when pressed, he emphasised the frequent contact he had with his Norwegian counterpart Jens Stoltenberg.
“The important thing for me has been that through our direct contact with Jens Stoltenberg, he has repeatedly acknowledged that he has expressed great appreciation for what Sweden has done or said is willing to do. We wanted to show our presence and solidarity with our neighbours, but we also wanted to show that we are on hand,” Said Reinfeldt.
He continued, “He (Stoltenberg) expressed, for example, great appreciation because we participated in the minute of silence, and that official buildings in Sweden had flags at half mast for more than two days.”
Reinfeldt visited the jamboree at Rinkaby, outside Kristianstad together with the leaders of Denmark and Finland, Lars Lökke Rasmussen and Jyrki Katainen with a speech that underlined the Nordic countries’ solidarity and the importance of young people engaging in society in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Norway.
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