Prime Minister Theresa May said:
Thank you very much Prime Minister and it is a great pleasure to be here in Norway – this is my first visit to Norway as Prime Minister.
I’m delighted to have been able to attend the Northern Future Forum – thank you for hosting it and thank you for focusing our thinking on the important subject of how innovation and technology can improve healthcare, and how we can, the Nordic and Baltic countries and the UK can cooperate more in this area to the benefit of all our citizens.
As you say, the UK and Norway have a strong and long-standing bilateral relationship. A very strong relationship across a great many issues, and I look forward to building on that in the future.
I look forward to talking to you about how we can enhance our future trade relationship, and how we can work together on issues like security and defence, and on the many other issues you have listed where we share our thinking and have worked together in the past.
And we want to build on that cooperation when we leave the European Union.
Thank you for the comments you have just made and the commitment you have made to UK citizens here in Norway and I make the same commitment to Norwegian citizens living in the UK.
We hope of course to be able to come to a satisfactory conclusion of the current negotiations in relation to this matter.
In the event of no deal, we would look to be able to have an agreement for EEA and EFTA countries, but whatever happens, we confirm that people from with EEA EFTA countries, Norwegian citizens and those others who are living in the UK who have made their life choice to be in the UK will be able to stay in the UK. We want them to stay, they are part of our community, they are part of our country and we welcome the contribution that they make.
I look forward to the talks we are going to have today, and also look forward to the opportunity to address what I believe is the 70th session of the Nordic Council.
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