Your Majesties,<br>Dear Eskil,<br>Dear all of you,<br> It is nearly two days since Norway was hit by the worst atrocity it has seen since the Second World War. On Utøya, and in Oslo.<br>It seems like an eternity.<br>These have been hours, days and nights filled with shock, despair, anger and weeping. <br>Today is a day for mourning.<br>Today, we will allow ourselves to pause.<br>Remember the dead.<br>Mourn those who are no longer with us.<br>92 lives have been lost. Several people are still missing.<br>Every single death is a tragedy. Together they add up to a national tragedy.<br>We are still struggling to take in the scale of this tragedy.<br>Many of us know someone who has been lost. Even more know of someone.<br>I knew several.<br>One of them was Monica. She worked on Utøya for 20 years or so. For many of us she was Utøya.<br>Now she is dead. Shot and killed while providing care and security for young people from all over the country.<br>Her husband John and daughters Victoria and Helene are in Drammen Church today.<br>It is so unfair. I want you to know that we are weeping with you.<br>Another is Tore Eikeland.<br>Leader of the Labour Youth League in Hordaland and one of our most talented young politicians.<br>I remember him being met with acclaim by the whole Labour national congress when he gave a stirring speech against the EU Postal Directive, and won the debate.<br>Now he is dead. Gone for ever. It is incomprehensible.<br> These are two of those we have lost.<br>We have lost many more on Utøya and in the government offices.<br>We will soon have their names and pictures. Then the full extent of this evil act will become apparent in all its horror.<br>This will be a new ordeal.<br>But we will get through this too.<br>Amidst all this tragedy, I am proud to live in a country that has managed to hold its head up high at a critical time.<br>I have been impressed by the dignity, compassion and resolve I have met.<br> We are a small country, but a proud people.<br> We are still shocked by what has happened, but we will never give up our values. Our response is more democracy, more openness, and more humanity. But never naivity.<br>No one has said it better than the Labour Youth League girl who was interviewed by CNN: "If one man can create that much hate, you can only imagine how much love we as a togetherness can create."<br>Finally, I would like to say to the families all over the country who have lost one of their loved ones:<br>You have my and the whole of Norway's deepest sympathy for your loss.<br>Not only that. The whole world shares your sorrow.<br>I have promised to pass on the condolences of Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Frederik Reinfeldt, Angela Merkel, David Cameron, Dimitry Medvedev and many other heads of state and government.<br>This cannot make good your loss. Nothing can bring your loved ones back.<br>But we all need support and comfort when life is at its darkest.<br>Now life is at its darkest for you.<br>I want you to know that we are there for you.