Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, samstarfsráðherra Norðurlanda:

Meðfylgjandi er texti úr vídeó-ávarpi:

Dear Participants,

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said “Change is the only constant” and therefore we must adapt to changes. These words come to mind when I think of the subject matter of this conference, about language and Nordic co-operation. 

The discussion about using one of the Scandinavian languages, Danish, Swedish or Norwegian, in Nordic co-operation, has been going on for a long time and recent reports show a decline in the use of these languages among the other Nordic countries. English is becoming more prevalent as our language of choice to engage in Nordic co-operation. This is not only happening here in the Nordic but in more places around the world. 

What implications does this have? 

The goal of the Nordic Council and the Nordic Counsil of Ministers is to make the Nordic the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. How can we as a region become more integrated?

We become more integrated by taking down various barriers, sharing experiences, sharing and engaging in each other´s cultures and nurturing our common heritage and above nurturing all our friendship. The language can play, and plays, an important part in integration of the Nordic region. But which language or languages? Does Scandinavian or Blandinaviska do the trick? It has been the dominant language we have used in the past, but is it the language of the future Nordic co-operation? These questions are becoming more and more urgent to answer, and I believe the younger generation needs to have a big say in that. 

Official communication between ministers and parliamentarians in formal settings occurs in any of the five languages, Icelandic, Finish, Danish, Norwegian or Swedish. Greenland and the Faroe islands are left out there. 

Increasingly, English is taking over in many other arenas. My question is, are we increasingly excluding people, especially younger people, by sticking to the Scandinavian languages? And if so, don´t we need to consider, what is more important the co-operation itself or the language we use to communicate? In any case, we need to recognize that change is happening. 

And I really hope you will discuss answers to these important questions because perhaps after all Change is the only constant. 

I hope you have a fruitful discussion here today and that our Nordic family can benefit from it. God arbedslust.