Human dignity is independent of national borders. We must always defend the interests of the poor and the persecuted in other countries.

Bondevik received thousands of supportive letters and said that the experience had been positive overall both for himself and because it made mental illness more publicly acceptable. Olav in 2004 the first sitting Norwegian Prime Minister to receive the Order of St. Awards and decorations
Bondevik was awarded the Grand Cross of St.

He served as Prime Minister of Norway from 1997 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2005 making him Norway's longest serving non-Labour Party Prime Minister since World War II. Currently he is President of the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights.