Jens Eikaas

Jens: The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has commissioned research of perceptions of Norway in a number of countries, including eight EU member states. The Czech Republic was not among them, but if it had been, I would expect findings similar to those in other EU member states. Among the general findings in the study was an overall vague, but positive impression of Norway, both in terms of its beautiful nature and in regard to the Norwegian society and way of life – but also an impression of a small country in the world’s periphery, where few events of interest occur. Norway’s full and active support for the UN is generally known in other countries. Similarly, Norway’s generous development aid is known and appreciated by many, and so is Norway’s preparedness to engage in peace diplomacy and other efforts to promote peace. The interest and activities of Norwegian politicians in environmental protection issues in general, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and CO2 capture more specifically, are among the better known and more visible aspects of Norwegian politics, and generally capture a lot of attention and interest. The typical impression of Norwegians in business is that they are nice people to deal with - open, honest, reliable, friendly and interested in social exchange. Although a certain amount of skepticism was also among the findings in the survey, both in terms of results achieved and in terms of the degree of realism for a small nation to be able to make a difference in international matters, I believe that most Norwegians would want to be perceived as working to address the major global challenges through closer international cooperation and a better global order, including a stable climate, international peace and security, control over infectious diseases, and a well-functioning global financial system.

Jens: Social media like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are channels that can be used to communicate information and thoughts, and also to have direct contact with people who are interested in for example foreign cultures and countries. The Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the State Secretaries in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs use social media in their capacity as politicians. Also the Foreign Minister’s media department uses social media. However, the Foreign Service as such is still in an initial stage when it comes to the use of social media. Some Norwegian embassies have started using social media as part of a pilot program. The Embassy in Prague is not among those included in the pilot program, so I do not use social media professionally. The pilot program may lead to use of social media in the Foreign Service, but a decision will not be taken until the results of the pilot program have been evaluated. So far, I have not started using social media privately.