King of Norway begins three-day trip to Poland

King Harald V (right) with President Komorowski; photo - PAP/Jacek Turczyk

The King of Norway, accompanied by a large delegation of ministers and business people will be spending two days in Warsaw and one in Krakow in the south of the country.

The royal couple, whose plane arrived at Warsaw's international airport on Wednesday morning, are being accompanied by the Norwegian minister for foreign affairs, minister of defence and minister for fisheries and coastal affairs.

After talks with President Komorowski, the king and queen will lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw.

King Harald V will then meet with Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Speakers of the lower and upper houses of parliament, Ewa Kopacz and Bogdan Borusewicz.

In the evening, First Lady Anna and Bronislaw Komorowski will host an official banquet in honour of the royal couple.

On Thursday morning, President Komorowski and the King of Norway will open the "Polish-Norwegian partnership" conference where they will participate in a seminar on "challenges and collaboration in the field of defence and security."

The royal couple will spend Friday in Krakow, where, at noon, together with the Polish presidential couple, King Harald V and Sonja will meet with students of the Jagiellonian University and will inaugurate a new Polish-Norwegian research program and scholarship, funded by a grant from Norway, which, though not a member of the EU is part of the European Economic Area. (pg)