Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Tuesday led a memorial at Høyblokka in Oslo’s government quarter to mark the 14th anniversary of the brutal twin terror attack on July 22nd, 2011.
“14 years have passed, and I reckon that counts as half a generation. A lot has happened in our lives during these 14 years,” Støre said in his speech. “A lot would have happened in the lives of all those – all of our loved ones – who died and were killed on July 22nd.”
The 14th anniversary anniversary also included a memorial service at Oslo Cathedral at 11am and a commemoration on the island of Utøya from 4pm.
The perpetrator, the right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik, (who is now officially named Far Skaldigrimmr Rauskjoldr av Northriki) began his attack with a car bomb on the government quarter, which killed eight people and injured at least 209, twelve severely.
He then proceeded to a Labour party youth camp on the island of Utøya where he opened fire, killing 69 people and injuring 32 more.
The first commemoration of the day was, as in previous years, held in front of the Høyblokka building in the government quarter, which was badly damaged in the blast but is now about to reopen after extensive repairs.
You can find the full programme (in Norwegian) here.
“We are now standing at a government quarter that is taking shape. Next year it will be ready. It has taken its time,” Støre said. “Many ministries are moving in, democracy will work from here as it is meant to. This also applies to the Prime Minister’s office. The Høyblokka is being used again for meetings.”
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Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who was Norway’s prime minister at the time of the attack, told NTB that there were currently five ministers in Norway’s government who were present on Utøya as youth politicians when Breivik attacked.
The 31-year-old singer Christian Roger Beharie, known by his stage name Beharie, performed at the memorial.
Wreaths were then laid in front of the Høyblokka, along with a list of all the names and ages of the victims.
In front of the wall to the Høyblokka was a sheet of broken glass, symbolizing all the glass that shattered in the area when the bomb hit.
There was also a reading of the names of those killed, first the eight who were killed by the bomb in the government quarter and then the 69 who were killed on Utøya.