To the City Councils in Bergen, Kristiansand and Arendal,

please receive our condolences and solidarity on behalf of the cities of the UBC.
What happened  at Utøya and in Oslo first of all is a tragedy for the families having to live with the loss of sons and daughters and beloved family members.
But it also concerns us as citizens living in countries, where democracy and mutual respect of different ideologies, political opinions, culture and ways of living, are fundamental rights and values for which people in another part of our Nordic region had to fight not so long ago.

Our thoughts go to the Norwegian people in this severe moment.

Respectfully

Per Bødker Andersen, Kolding
President of the Union of the Baltic Cities

Marie-Louise Rönnmark, Umeå
Vice-president of the Union of the Baltic Cities

Jarkko Virtanen, Turku
Vice-president of the Union of the Baltic Cities