Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre visits Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS — International bonds were made stronger Sunday as Norway's prime minister made his way to Minnesota.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre joined Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar for a fireside chat at the Norway House on East Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis.
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This is the first time the country's sitting prime minister has visited Minnesota since 2009.
"It is, let me tell you, touching for a Norweigan prime minister to come here and to see how the roots really still are there," Støre said.
While in Minnesota, the prime minister also visited Camp Ripley in St. Cloud and St. Olaf College in Northfield.
The prime minister is also celebrating a longstanding relationship between Norway and Minnesota, commemorated earlier this year. The Minnesota National Guard and the Norwegian Home Guard have partnered in a troop exchange for 50 years — the longest troop exchange program in U.S. Department of Defense history.
In February, WCCO reporter Reg Chapman and photojournalist Tom Aviles went to Norway to experience the training for Minnesota's National Guard.