The King of Sweden promotes Scouting in the Swedish Parliament
15 September, Stockholm. Today the Swedish parliament opened for the year. His Majesty, King Carl Gustaf of Sweden makes his only speech to the parliament this day. This year he talked for seven minutes and of these two and a half minutes were about the World Scout Jamboree 2011.
The following is a translation of an extract of his speech.
"Only a few days after the events in Norway, 38 000 Scouts from 150 countries chose to gather at an international ”Jamboree” in Kristianstad. During two weeks they all lived together, participated in different seminars and discussions, spent time together and got to know each other. The Queen and I had the privilege of getting to experience on site the great faith in the future that these young people have.
The Closing Ceremony with these 38 000 Scouts from all over the world was, despite the pouring rain, a nice manifestation. There was no mistaking the sense of joy, unity and solidarity that these young people from all over the world had created during these two weeks. Let us together make use of all these positive forces in society that see possibilities and want to contribute to making the world a better and more peaceful place.
Everyone felt a great responsibility for the future. Their common final message was: “I am a Messenger of Peace!”. That is faith in the future!
What a great opportunity for you, elected representatives of the Swedish people, to engage and make use of this youthful enthusiasm and energy. With these words I want to wish you the strength and endurance to make our nation move forward in a direction that is positive for all citizens.
I hereby declare the Riksmöte of 2011/2012 open.
View the Video (in Swedish)
Source: //www.scout.org