Before he headed back to Germany after the Nobel Peace Prize celebrations, President of the EU, Martin Schulz requested a special visit to Utøya, the scene of the July 22nd massacre in Norway.
Schulz visited Utøya along with the head of the Labor Party's Youth Group (AUF) Eskil Pedersen and other members of AUF.
"Those who were killed at Utøya could have just as well been my own children," Schulz told public broadcaster NRK.
The German EU President is involved in the fight against extremism, and therefore wanted to visit Utøya while in Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Schulz arrived at the island on Tuesday at 11.45 a.m., where he put down a bouquet of carnations. The AUF management gave the president a tour of the island, where the massacre took place on July 22 last year.
- I knew of Utøya long before the terror attack took place, Schulz explains. Several German social democrats have visited the island, including his father as a youth politician in the 1970s.
"This is an emotional moment for me," Schulz says. "It's important to come back here, and that Utøya doesn't only remain the island where the terrorist killed many people," Schulz says.
The EU president also discussed the fight against extremism with Pedersen. He thinks social justice is one of the key elements in preventing people from developing extremist attitudes.
"I am not surprised that people become extremists," Schulz tells NRK, "but often it is not because they are right-wing or left-wing. Often it is simply because they feel hopeless."
(NRK)
Julie Ryland
