Nordland is the southernmost county in the Norwegian part of the Barents Region and has for decades been a pioneer in regional contacts with the Soviet Union and later Russia. Over the last few years, Nordland has expanded their international horizon towards China.
According to a news-article posted on the county’s official web-portal, Nordland showed their best when they had Party Secretary Zhao Hongzhu and his delegation on an official visit this week.
In an attempt to signal friendship with the visitors, they hoisted the flag of the Soviet Union outside the County Administration’s main building in Bodø.
-We took it down again when we understood it was the Soviet flag, says County Governor Odd Eriksen in a comment to the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.
Eriksen says it is natural that the 19 year old flag still is stored in the county administration’s collection of flags.
- We’re not going to burn it. It’s not so long ago this was a flag that was in use, says Eriksen to Dagbladet.
- We talked with our Chinese friends and apologized. They said that “everyone can make mistakes” says Nordland’s Country Governor.
