Norway marks Breivik massacre a year on

Norwegians yesterday marked a year since right-wing ex­tremist Anders Behring Breivik massacred 77 people with a poignant memorial ceremony on the island of Utoeya, where most of his mainly teenage victims were killed.

“Even though we carry a heavy burden, we are still standing,” said the head of the Labour Party youth wing Eskil Pedersen on the anniversary of the atrocity that stunned the usually tranquil nation.

“He took some of our loveliest roses, but he could not stop the springtime,” Mr Pedersen said at Utoeya, where Mr Breivik gunned down 69 people.

He was speaking to around 1,000 Labour Party youths – several of them survivors of the bloodbath – who gathered on a lawn with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and other top political officials.

Mr Pedersen himself escaped the gunman’s bullet at the start of the massacre.

“Even after a year, it is barely possible to measure the suffering and fear that seized Utoeya last July 22,” Mr Stoltenberg said at the ceremony, which began with a minute of silence and two songs by a survivor who saw her boyfriend killed.

The Labour Prime Minister met family members of Mr Breivik’s victims and laid a second wreath on the heart-shaped island at 6.45 p.m. – almost exactly the time that Mr Breivik was finally arrested after his more than hour-long shooting spree.

“We stuck together at the most difficult time our generation has ever experienced. Today as well, take care of one another,” survivor Adrian Pracon said in a tweet.

“Mixed feelings but we will have a good day and remember those who never went home. It’ll do us good,” tweeted another, Marte Oedegaarden.

Mr Breivik’s rampage began in Oslo, where he set off a massive bomb outside the main government building, killing eight.

“The bomb and bullets were aimed at changing Norway,” Mr Stoltenberg said at an earlier ceremony near this building.

“The Norwegian people responded by embracing our values. The killer failed, the people won.” The extremist, now 33, said he carried out the attacks to protect his country against “the Muslim invasion” and said he had targeted the Labour Party for its immigration policies and support for a multi-cultural society.

Norway mourns victims

Mr Breivik, whose 10-week trial ended last month, is awaiting his verdict, expected on August 24.

While there is no doubt he carried out the attacks, the five Oslo court judges must decide whether he should be considered criminally sane and sentenced to prison, as requested by his defence, or instead follow the prosecution’s line and send him to a closed psychiatric ward.

The Labour Prime Minister, who was at his official residence and not in his office in the 17-storey main building at the time, began yesterday’s commemorations by laying a wreath near the spot where the bomb went off.

The streets around the government complex reopened only last week after the removal of more than 4,300 tonnes of rubble, at a cost of more than 300 million kroner (€40 million).

Mr Stoltenberg attended many of the most heart-wrenching events commemorating the worst atrocity carried out on Norwegian soil since World War II.

Norway’s King and Queen joined him at a service at Oslo’s cathedral, where hundreds of people were gathered outside, laying heaps of roses – the Labour Party symbol – as they did in the weeks after the attacks. “Know that we miss you,” Mr Pedersen said there. “Today, we honour you. Tomorrow a new day begins. We must go forward – not without sadness, not without pain, but together we will make it.”

Mr Stoltenberg later attended a commemorative concert outside Oslo city hall featuring mainly Norwegian musicians with guest star Bruce Springsteen.

Norwegian folk singer Lillebjoern Nilsen, who in April led some 40,000 rose-waving protesters to sing a song derided by Mr Breivik, also took part.

Norway’s professional football teams observed a minute of silence before all games played yesterday.