Princess on the border
"My thoughts go to all the people in Ukraine, who are in such a terrible situation," Norway's Princess Ingrid Alexandra said as she travelled to Kirkenes, the Norwegian town located near the border with Russia.
As part of her first official trip alone, the young royal this week arrived in the border town of Kirkenes.
The 22-year-old princess and heir apparent did not want to focus on her scandal-ridden family, neither the upcoming court case against her brother Marius, nor her controversial uncle Shaman Durek.
On the agenda was the far northern region of Finnmark, its people and culture, and border relations.
Asked about the security situation in the region, the Princess emphasised that she has the people of Ukraine in her thoughts.
"My thoughts go to all the people in Ukraine, who are in such a terrible situation," she told NTB.
She emphasised that it is "important to find a way to live side by side."
"Norway and Russia actually have a long history of cooperation, especially in northern Norway. I think it hurts many people that this relationship has become so painful now," she added.
Ingrid Alexandra visited the local school in Kirkenes and met with representatives of the local political establishment, business and civil society.
She also went by dog sled to the border with Russia where she was welcomed by conscript soldiers who guard the border.
Norway has a 198 km long land border, as well as a vast maritime border, with Russia.
The relationship between the two neighbouring countries has descended into a deep freeze following Russia's increasingly dictatorial rule and the more than 11 years of war against Ukraine.
Princess Ingrid Alexandra is the elder child of Crown Prince Haakon and the second child of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and a grandchild of King Harald V. She is second in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne after her father.
