Petterson's novel 'It's Fine by Me' (Det er greit for meg) has received great reviews in The Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Scotsman. The novel is translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett, and published by Harvill Secker with a translation grant from NORLA.

Read more and order a free copy here

Anne Holt's '1222', the eight installment in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series, is on the shortlist for the 2012 Edgar Award for 'Best Novel'. The book is translated from the Norwegian by Marlaine Delargy, and published by Schribner and Simon & Schuster.

Anne Holt is one of five nominees in the category 'Best Novel' and the winner will be announced on April 26th, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. See all nominees here

NORLA is proud to contribute to the A&A Book Trust's ‘World Girl-Child Picture Books Project’ in India, by granting subsidies for the publication of two Norwegian picture books in both Hindi and English. The books are:

Gro Dahle: ‘Snill’, illustrated by Svein Nyhus and translated into both Hindi and English by Arundhati Deosthale with Mira B Laurantzon.

illustrated by Helena Ohlsson and translated into both Hindi and English by Arundhati Deosthale with Mira B Laurantzon.

Read more about the World Girl-Child Picture Books Project here
And more about A&A's important work by creating 'Reading Corners' for children all around India here

“There will be a before and an after MY STRUGGLE. Knausgård will have the same status as Henrik Ibsen and Knut Hamsun.”
(Kristeligt Dagblad, Denmark)
The sixth and final volume of Karl Ove Knausgård’s MY STRUGGLE was hailed as a monumental end to a work of immense importance all over Scandinavia upon its Norwegian publication in November. The first printing disappeared from stock in three days and the book went straight to the top of the bestseller list.
Read more here

The film rights in Helene Uri’s 'Bitches' are sold to the film company 4 ½. The film company is looking very much forward to transfer the lively scenario of this novel into a movie.
Translation rights to the book are sold to Denmark and Sweden, and Norstedts would like to introduce Helene Uri at the Gothenburg Book Fair in 2012, when the focus is on the Nordic Literature.
Helene Uri’s writing is translated into many languages, and her previous novel 'The righteous' has received excellent reviews in Sweden and France.

The prestigious design award iF Design Award was awarded to the book 'Betongoverflater' (Concrete Surfaces), published in collaboration between Gyldendal Academic and byggutengrenser.no. It is both a guide and an inspirational book for architects and concrete workers, designed by Laboremus.

In relation to "The World Through Picture Books Project," which aims to create a list of picture books from around the world, librarians from all over Norway have voted for the ten best Norwegian picture books. NORLA has provided subsidies for the translation of several of these books into seven languages. See the ten titles below

Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold's prize-winning first novel 'The Faster I Walk the Smaller I Am' is recently published in the USA by Dalkey Archive Press with a translation grant from NORLA, and translated from the Norwegian by Kerri Pierce.
Translation rights to the book is so far sold to seven countries, and the US edtition now receives great reviews in several newspapers.

Read the review in The Harvard Crimson here

And the review in the Irish Times here

More info about the book here

Nine Norwegian authors and illustrators have been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2012, the largest award for children’s and young adult literature in the world. We would like to congratulate Gro Dahle and Svein Nyhus (nominated as a team), Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Fam Ekman, Stian Hole, Ragnar Hovland, Gry Moursund, Bjørn Sortland and Øyvind Torseter on their nominations. The winner will be announced on March 20, 2012.
For a complete list of nominees, click here.

Fridtjof Nansen was born 150 years ago on October 10, 1861. Many special events will be arranged in Norway and abroad in celebration of the anniversary. NORLA contributes by granting subsidies for the translation of several of Nansen’s books that are being published in foreign languages this year:

NORLA congratulates Damion Searls on winning the PEN Center USA's Literary Translation Award 2011 for his translation of Jon Fosse's 'Aliss at the Fire'. The book is published by Dalkey Archive Press with translation subsidy from NORLA.
Read more on the award here and on the book here.

Gaute Heivoll is awarded the Hunger Prize - Sultprisen - 2011. The Prize is granted by Gyldendal publishing house to a young, eminent author.
Heivoll's Brage Prize-awarded novel 'Before I Burn' (2010) received excellent reviews and foreign rights to the book are so far sold to 15 countries. Read more

German reviewers like Per Petterson's novel, 'It's Fine by Me' recently published by Hanser Verlag, translated into German by Ina Kronenberger. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung's critic thank Petterson and his translator for giving the readers 'reads that outlast the season', including books like 'Out Stealing Horses' and 'In the Wake'.
See the reviews (in German) in Welt, Kurier, Deutschland Radio and Frankfurter Allgemeine.
More on Per Petterson here

Bjørn Ousland's picture book 'Prince Doggy' was launched last year in Hindi (translated by Arundhati Deosthale and Inger Randi Rognøy) as one of several Norwegian childrens books published by A & A Publishing with translation subsidy from NORLA.

Herbjørg Wassmo is knighted with the French Order 'Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'. The award ceremony took place during this year's book fair Salon de Livre in Paris. More information on Herbjørg Wassmo here and on the French Order here.

Paula Stevens is awarded the Dutch translation prize The Amy van Marken-Prize for her complete work as a translator of Norwegian literature from Norwegian into Dutch.
The prize is awarded every two years to a translator of Scandinavian languages, for an outstanding translation of a single work or, as this year, for a translator's oevre of exceptionally high quality. See the amazing picture that proves the extent of Paula Stevens' oevre of translation.
(Photo: Pepijn van den Broek)

Loe's 'Muleum' was one of six novels shortlisted for the Grote Jongerenliteratuur Prijs. The 2010 edition of this prize is the first ever, and it is the only Jury Prize in the Netherlands that laurels fiction in the 15+ category. Two prizes of € 5000 are awarded: one for the best work of fiction in Dutch, and one for best translated work of fiction. In the latter category, Erlend Loe shares his prize with the translator Femmigje Andersen Sijtsma. A jury, consisting mainly of professional readers, selected Erlend Loe’s novel out of nearly 80 exhibits.

The two celebrated crime authors participated in a literary discussion at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on 26 November, marking the 25th anniversary of Edinburgh’s Norwegian Christmas tree.

The book 'Hamsun – Holl – Hamarøy' by Erik Fenstad Langdalen, Aaslaug Vaa and Nina Frang Høyum is awarded the DAM Architectural Book Award 2010 in the category "Monograph of a Building". Read more about the award here and a presentation of the book (in German) here.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Oslo and the Norwegian Embassy in Kiev have invited a group of Ukrainian publishers and translator to Oslo. The purpose of the visit is to enhance the contact between Norwegian and Ukrainian publishing houses to increase the translation of literature both ways. NORLA covers the travel expenses of the Ukrainian guests. The program runs from 1-2 November at the House of Literature in Oslo. See the full programme here. For further information please contact the Ukrainian Embassy.

Stian Hole's book 'Garmann's Summer' is awarded the German Youth Literature Award 2010 (Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis) for best picture book. The book is translated into German by Ina Kronenberger. 'Garmann's Summer' is so far (being) translated into ten languages and the book has received several major awards both in Norway and abroad. Read more here about the award here and about the book here.

Jon Ewo's novels for young adults are heading the list of the most-lent library books at the St. Petersburg Library. The novel 'XXL' has recently been published in Germany and receives great reviews, one of which describes the book as "A mixture of 'The Catcher in the Rye' and 'Stand by Me', only funnier." Read reviews (in German) here and here, and contact his Norwegian publisher for further information here.

The Arts Council's Prize 2010 is awarded author, translator and playwright Tor Åge Bringsværd. The annual award is given for outstanding achievement in the arts to a prominent Norwegian cultural figure.

The three poets Tone Hødnebø, Marte Huke and Hanne Aga are part of the "Poems on the Underground" in Warsaw, due to translation subsidies from NORLA. More information in English on the poets and translators is found on the project's website, where the poems can be read in both Norwegian and Polish.

Anne Oterholm is awarded the Aschehoug Prize 2010 for her collected works. The Aschehoug Prize consists of NOK 100 000 and the sculpture 'Eternal Life' by renowned Norwegian sculptor Ørnulf Bast. Read more on Anne Oterholm here.

Ingrid Storholmen is awarded the Hunger Prize 2010. The Prize is granted by Gyldendal publishing house to a young, eminent author.
Storholmen's latest book Chernobyl Stories (2009) has received excellent reviews and was nominated for the Brage Award, the Norwegian Critics' Prize and the Youth Critics' Prize. More information on the author here.

Per Petterson's latest novel I Curse the River of Time receives rave reviews both in the U.S. and the UK. Major newspapers like The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, The New York Times and The Washington Post all have starred reviews of the novel.

The International Ibsen Award 2010 is given to the Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse. The award will be presented on 10 September during the Ibsen Festival at the National Theatre in Oslo. Read the jury's statement here

Mary Parr's critically acclaimed first novel "Waffle Heart" is awarded the Prix Sorcières for best children's novel 2010. The book is translated into French by Jean-Baptiste Coursaud, and foreign rights are so far sold to 7 countries. More information about the Prize here.

Jo Nesbø, one of Europe’s leading crime writers, has just published 'The Snowman' to brilliant reviews in the UK press. This is Nesbø’s fifth internationally acclaimed novel featuring Inspector Harry Hole to be translated into English by Don Bartlett. Read more here

Tomas Espedal is awarded The Gyldendal Prize 2009 for his collected works, and in particular his latest novel 'Against Art'.
The book has been awarded the Norwegian Critic's Prize and is nominated for the Nordic Council's Literature Prize. More about the book here

Tom Egeland has been awarded the Golden revolver, the Norwegian prize for best literary detective work in 2009 for his book 'Gospel of Lucifer'. Read more here

Per Petterson's novel 'Out Stealing Horses' is awarded the Rashid Bin Hameed Cultural Award for best translated novel 2009 in the Arab emirate of Ajman. The book is translated by Sukaina Ibrahim and published by Dar Al-Muna, in collaboration with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation.

Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold and Eivind Hofstad Evjemo are awarded the Tarjei Vesaas' First Writer's Award 2009. Skomsvold receives the award for her novel 'The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am' (Oktober), while Evjemo receives the award for his novel 'Wake Me if I Fall Asleep' (Cappelen Damm). Read more about Skomsvold's book here, and Evjemo's book here.

Tomas Espedal and Maria Parr are awarded The Norwegian Critics' Prize 2009. Espedal for his novel Agains art, which is so far sold to four countries, and Parr for her children's book Tonje Glimmerdal, which is sold to six countries. More on Espedal's book here, and Parr's book here.

The American-Scandinavian Foundation has awarded the 30th annual ASF Translation Prize to Tara F. Chace from Seattle for her translation of a collection of short stories by Norwegian author Nicolai Houm, All Children are Made of Fire (Alle barn er laget av ild). More about the prize here.

The International Ibsen Scholarships were initiated by the Norwegian government and will be handed out for the third time in 2010. Scholarship funds amount to NOK 1.000.000,- (approx. Euro 125.000,-/US Dollars 150.000,-) will be awarded to Ibsen-related projects world wide. The application deadline is April 15th 2010, see more info and application form here

The first three volumes of Karl Ove Knausgård's six-novel project My Struggle have been chosen as Book of the Year by the readers of the renowned Norwegian magazine Morgenbladet. This is the second prize for this ambitious project.

Anne B. Ragde’s acclaimed novel Berlin Poplars was published in France last autumn and has received excellent reviews by French critics.

Translation is all around us; it’s something we just don’t usually think about. For three whole days focus will be placed firmly on translation in all its forms. Norway’s House of Literature will be filled from cellar to garret with translation, translators and translations.

Gunnar Staalesen's fourth crime novel has recently been published in the UK, and British critics and readers like what they find in The Consorts of Death.

Per Petterson's critically acclaimed and prize winning novel Out Stealing Horses is ranked as no. 68 of the 100 best books the last decade by the prestigous British newspaper The Times, and is called "a superb Scandinavian noir". The book is so far sold to 45 languages.

Petterson receives the prize for the novel I Curse the River of Time.

Stian Hole picture book Garmann's Street is awarded the 2009 childrens' literature prize by the Nordic Association of School Librarians. The book is so far sold to six countries.

Maria Parr's début novel, Waffle Hearts (Vaffelhjarte, 2005) is nominated for the French Prix Tam Tam. The book is sold to six countries so far and the French translation is by Jean Baptiste Coursaud.

The prize is given to young talented European writers and aims to “put the spotlight on the creativity and diverse wealth of Europe’s contemporary literature, to promote more circulation of literature within Europe and encourage greater interest in non-national literary works”. Tiller is one of 12 prize winners.

The Independent's reviewer praises the author's
"superb knack of bringing characters to life with a few broad strokes, the prose flows deceptively easily, with a true master's witty choice of words." Read the review in full here.

Kjartan Fløgstad’s novel Grand Manila was recently published in France and the reviews were wonderful and enthusiastic. French critics are beside themselves with joy over Fløgstad’s smooth transitions between the local and the global, the individual and the international.

says The Independent's Boyd Tonkin on Norwegian literature in Britain, and NORLA. Read more

Kjell Askildsen is awarded the Swedish Academy's Nordic Prize 2009.

Gabriele Haefs and Jean-Baptiste Coursaud received The NBU (Norwegian Writers for Children) prize on October 25. They have both been working persistently promoting Norwegian children's literature in Germany and France respectively.

Our office will be closed from January 11 to 13, while we host a seminar for our Nordic colleagues. All employees at the Nordic literary offices meet annually, and this year the meeting will take place in Oslo.

We look forward to exchanging experiences and future plans with our colleagues!

We would like to thank our friends and colleagues for a fruitful year and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We look forward to seeing our Dutch colleagues, and are excited by the prospect of exchanging experiences.

NORLA annually hands out an award to a translator of Norwegian literature. In 2012, the award will be given to a talented young translator of non-fiction as an encouragement towards continued efforts.
We would very much like to hear from you about deserving candidates!

Read more about NORLA’s Translator's Award and former winners here

Suggest candidates by February 1, 2012 by clicking on this link

holidays between July 4 - 30.

We re-open Monday, August 1.

Wishing you a nice summer!

In the first six months of 2011 NORLA received a total of 180 applications for translation subsidies. 176 applications were granted subsidies for translation into 39 different languages, in total NOK 2,670,000.

See details of all grants in the list below.

NORLA's grants 2011_pr June 258.00 kB

This year NORLA will grant almost NOK 5 million in translation subsidies to foreign publishers of Norwegian literature, including NOK 400,000 for inter-Nordic translations. NORLA operates six application deadlines per year, three each for fiction and non-fiction, and the applications are considered by two committees of experts.

Please see more information on the application procedure here.

Our offices will be closed for Easter
holidays between April 18 - 25.

We re-open Tuesday, April 26.

Wishing you a Happy Easter!

NORLA will attend this spring's book fairs in Paris, Bologna and London, as well as literature conferences. For details see below

NORLA's offices are closed for holidays 23 December - 2 January.
We thank you for excellent collaboration throughout 2010 and wish you a Happy New Bookyear 2011!

(Photo: The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design)
NORLA's adviser Dina Roll-Hansen visited India in August and got inspiration for this award-winning gingerbread-Taj Mahal.

NORLA participated at the Non/Fiction Book Fair in Moscow 1 - 5 December, along with two Norwegian authors:

Maria Parr has enjoyed great success in Russia with her debut children's novel 'Waffle Heart'. This year she is launching 'Toni Glittervalley'.

Nils Christie was published in Russian for the first time in 1985. Since then a number of his books has been translated and played an important role among Russian professionals in the fields of law and criminology. This year the Moscow Center for Prison Reform is launching Christie's selected works in six volumes. Christie participated in book launches both in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

See the Fair's website here. More information on Maria Parr here and Nils Christie here.

NORLA participated at the Frankfurt Book Fair, October 6 -10. Gina Winje, Andrine Pollen, Dina Roll-Hansen, Per Øystein Roland and Oliver Møystad were present at the joint Norwegian stand in Hall 6.0 B 912.

The Fair's website is to be found here.

In August NORLA was present in New Delhi during the launch of four Norwegian children's books in Hindi, all of which are published with translation subsidies from NORLA. Lene Ask, one of the authors / illustrators, also participated.

In cooperation with the Norwegian embassy in Riga NORLA arranged, for the first time, a translation seminar for translators and students of Norwegian in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania at the end of October. The authors Anne B. Ragde and Helga Flatland participated, and more than a hundred Baltic particiants proved a very strong interest in Norwegian literature.

More information on Anne B. Ragde here and on Helga Flatland here.

NORLA attended the Göteborg Book Fair in Sweden September 23 - 26. More info on the fair here.

NORLA attended, for the first time, the Beijing International Book Fair, from August 30 - September 1.
The Fair's website is found here.

NORLAs offices are closed for summer holidays between June 28th and August 1st. We're back in business Monday August 2nd.

(The island of Lille Herbern, Oslo. Photo: Natalia Kharlamova)

NORLA will attend this autumn's book fairs and literary festivals in Beijing, Stavanger, Gothenburg, Frankfurt and Moscow. NORLA will also be (co)arranging seminars for translators, students (of Norwegian) and publishers. For details see below

During Norway's biggest Festival of Literature in Lillehammer, May 25 - 30, NORLA hosted two seminars for invited participants. First a translation seminar/workshop for lullabies, where some of the translations made during the workshop was performed by singer Unni Løvlid at a concert for invited guests.

NORLA also arranged an international seminar for publishers of children's books under the heading "The Power of Children's Literature". In cooperation with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NORLA had invited to Lillehammer publishers of children's literature from Palestine, India, Poland, and from Lebanon, France, Switzerland and Turkey to discuss the power and potential of children's literature all around the world.

More information on the Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer here

More information (in Spanish) to be found here

The German market is one of the most important markets for Norwegian literature, and a large number of Norwegian books are each year published in German. June 15 - 17 NORLA arranged a comprehensive translation and publishing seminar for invited participants at the Literaturhaus in Munich. Three Norwegian authors participated: Thomas Hylland-Eriksen, Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold and Yngve Frøyen.

On May 6th NORLA arranged an International Biography Seminar in Oslo for invited editors of non-fiction, under the headline "How is it possible to make international characters of national icons?". The seminar was arranged in cooperation with the Biographical Society of Norway, Norwegian publishers and the Norwegian Association of Non-Fiction Writers and Translators. Norwegian authors of biographies participated, along with Norwegian non-fiction editors and publishers.

Due to holidays in Norway NORLA's offices will be closed from May 13th through May 17th.

This year's Pen World Voices Festival was held in New York from April 26 to May 2. About 150 authors from 40 countries were invited to read the texts and discuss various topics at this year's festival. Norwegian participants were Jostein Gaarder and Karl Ove Knausgård. See the complete programme here, read more on Gaarder here, and Knausgård here.

NORLA's offices will be closing for Easter from Friday March 26 until Tuesday April 6.

We wish you all a Happy Easter!

Gina Winje and Oliver Møystad from NORLA were present at this year's Salon du Livre in Paris. The Nordic countries are guests of honour at the 2011 fair, and exhibited this year at a joint Nordic stand, No. X 68. More information on the book fair here.

Due to reduced flight activity in Northern Europe NORLA was regrettably unable to attend the London Book Fair in London, April 19 - 21. Information about NORLA was available at the Norwegian publishers' association's stand No. W 435. For more information about the fair, click here.

2009 resulted in several all time high's for NORLA; Never before have we received - and granted - as many applications for translation subsidy as we did last year.

NORLA's 2009 grants of translation subsidies 68.00 kB

2009 also saw the publication of no less than 235 Norwegian books translated into 45 different languages with translation subsidy from NORLA. See the complete list of (original) titles here

Translations published in 2009 with grants from NORLA 67.50 kB

During the festival Translated Days at the House of Literature in Oslo (March 11 - 13) NORLA arranged a meeting (held in Norwegian) between the author Johan Harstad and four of his translators.

The Norwegian Embassy in Paris and NORLA arranged a translator’s seminar for invited translators and students in Paris April 10 – 11. The seminar was held in collaboration with Université de Paris IV Sorbonne, and took place at the Musée des Arts et Métiers.
The authors Helene Uri and Vidar Sundstøl both have novels that are in the process of being translated into French. They met their translators and talked about the on-going process. Literary critic Marta Norheim conveyed tendencies in Norwegian literature 2000 - 2010.

During the Russian Week at the House of Literature in Oslo (April 19 – 24) NORLA arranged a Norwegian-Russian translator’s discussion (held in Norwegian) headed "Do we need Russian literature translated into Norwegian when a lot of Norwegian Literature is already translated into Russian?"

NORLA will be attending the book fairs in Paris, Bologna and London, as well as arranging seminars and participating in other events. You will find an overview of all NORLA’s planned spring activities here.

NORLA activities Spring 2010 134.00 kB

Mirjam Kristensen, Roy Jacobsen and Sverre Henmo will be visiting Germany in the period of March 18-21 to launch German editions of their books.
They will visit the Book Fair in Leipzig and read from their books at the fair, at differents schools and around town. Read more about the fair and see the programme here.

Gina Winje and Oliver Møystad from NORLA visited Egypt and the Cairo International Bookfair January 28-31. They met with publishers and took part in the launch of the Arabic translation of Knut Hamsun's novel Hunger, marking the 150th anniversary of Hamsun's birth.

NORLA was present at The 11. International Book Fair for High Quality Fiction and Non-Fiction in Moscow, December 2nd - 6th.
Four Norweigan authors, Ingar Sletten Kolloen, Sigrun Slapgard, Jon Ewo and Knut Faldbakken, were also participating to launch brand new translations of their books.

Read more about the book fair here.

Germany is still the most important market for Norwegian literature. 6-7 June NORLA and Nordkolleg Rendsburg arranged their annual translation seminar. The subject of this years' seminar was Neo-Norwegian children's literature, and we invited authors Ragnfrid Trohaug and Rune Belsvik to join us. Should you be interested in participating in future seminars, please contact Nordkolleg by their home page www.nordkolleg.de.

24-26 May NORLA arranged a translation seminar for 125 invited translators from all over the world. The seminar was financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is concerned with the promotion of Norwegian literature abroad in general, as well as the translators' work in particular. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre attended the seminar opening.

NORLA will participate at the London Book Fair 20-22 April. Gina Winje, Per Øystein Roland and Oliver Møystad will be available at the Norwegian Publishers' Association stand, number W 407. Please contact NORLA to make an appointment. For more information about the fair, click here:

Dina Roll-Hansen from NORLA participated at the Bologna Children's Book Fair from Tuesday 23rd to Friday 26th March, at the Collective Nordic Stand, hall 30 c 18. For more information about the fair, click here.

NORLA was represented by Gina Winje at Jerusalem International Book Fair and the author Thorvald Steen participated in the program at the fair. NORLA and Steen visited Palestinian publishers and authors in Ramallah and had a meeting with the Hebrew writer's association.

Jostein Gaarder visited the Havana International Book Fair in February in order to launch the cuban edition of "The Solitaire Mystery". During the fair the Cuban publisher Editorial Oriente also launched an anthology of short stories written by Norwegian contemporary authors, such as Beate Grimsrud, Gro Dahle, Hanne Ørstavik, Merete Lindstrøm and Björg Vik.

We are still situated in the National Library, and we have kept our former web and e-mail addresses. Our postal address, telephone and fax numbers are changed, though. We look forward to welcoming you to our new premises! Here is our new contact information:

NORLA participated at the this year's Frankfurt Book Fair, October 14th-18th, with Gina Winje, Dina Roll-Hansen, Per Øystein Roland and Oliver Møystad present. The Fair's website it to be found here.

Per Øystein Roland and Oliver Møystad from NORLA attended The Book and Library Fair in Gothenburg, Sweden, September 24th - 27th.

This year the fair celebrated it's 25th anniversary, and offered a focus on Norwegian books with many Norwegian authors participating. And, for the first time, the Norwegian Publishers' Association and the Norwegian Embassy presented and promoted, from a joint table, Norwegian authors and publishers alike.

Read more here.

NORLA is expanding its activities to developing countries, using project funds from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.