President Lennart Meri has invited His Majesty the King of Norway Harald V and Queen Sonja to a State Visit in Estonia on August 31 and September 1, 1998. Their Majesties will arrive in Port of Tallinn on the morning of August 31, and the official welcoming ceremony at Kadriorg will start at 10.00.

President of the Republic of Estonia and Mrs. Helle Meri will welcome Their Majesties, decorations and gifts will be exchanged. The President will decorate the King of Norway with the Grand Cross with Collar of the Estonian Order of Terra Mariana and the Queen of Norway with the First Class Order of Cross of Terra Mariana. At the same time, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Norway and Estonia and the accompanying delegations will have a meeting at Kadriorg.

His Majesty King Harald V will lay a wreath to the memorial of students and teachers killed in the War of Liberation, he will also meet the Riigikogu Chairman Toomas Savi and Prime Minister Mart Siimann. In the afternoon, President Lennart Meri and Mrs. Helle Meri will show the royal couple the Old Town of Tallinn and Their Majesties will make an entry to the Guestbook of Tallinn at the Town Hall.

President of the Republic and Mrs. Helle Meri will also host a dinner in honour of His and Her Majesty at the House of Blackheads.

On September 1, the State Visit will continue in Pärnu. At the Pärnu Town Hall, the Norwegian royal couple and President Lennart Meri and Mrs. Helle Meri will be greeted by the Pärnu County Governor Toomas Kivimägi and the Mayor of Pärnu Vello Järvesalu. The honourable guests will make an entry to the town's Guestbook and take a walk on the Rüütli Street and the Koidula Park. King Harald V will ring the bell to the first lesson of the new school year in the Pärnu Old Town Elementary School.

Before their departure, His Majesty Harald V the King of Norway and Her Majesty Queen Sonja will hold a reception in honour of the President of the Republic of Estonia and Mrs. Helle Meri on board the Norwegian Royal Yacht ''Norge''.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, July 31, 1998


Information for Journalists: the journalists wishing to reflect the events of the State Visit are requested to register at the Press Centre of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (phone numbers 6 317 631 and 6 317 633) by 16.00 on August 25, 1998, at the latest.

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