Prime Minister Hon. Sarah Wescot-Williams condemns the attack against Government institutions and a group of young people attending a political rally in Norway on Friday.
Reports coming in are still developing as Police and other security officials investigate who is responsible for the attack along with the motive.
A massive bomb exploded in the Capital city Oslo Friday afternoon killing seven persons up to Friday afternoon. The bomb detonated in an area of the city which houses the Prime Minister’s office and many government ministries.
A number of persons have either been killed or wounded in an attack at a youth rally on an island outside the city of Oslo.
"On behalf of the people and Government of Sint Maarten, we condemn this attack that has taken place and extend our condolences to those who have perished and express our nation’s sympathy to those who have been injured," Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said on Friday.
Prime Minister Wescot pointed out at the International Criminal Justice Day last Sunday that as a young country, "…we are duty bound to incessantly note with interest and concern what is playing out on regional and global stages."
The Prime Minister added that international and trans-border crimes are daily realities: "And thus the administration of international criminal justice has its place in the fight against crime globally."
With respect to foreign relations which fall under the Kingdom Government, the Prime Minister said that this needed to be a topic of discussion when the future of the Kingdom is discussed later this year.
"Sint Maarten has always been a very open society. Open and sometimes vulnerable because of our small scale, our economy, and our location.
"In our new constitutional status, it is still a work in progress how we define foreign relations and how it is administered. Yes, of course, technically speaking, one of the areas left unchanged by the constitutional reforms within the Dutch Kingdom is that of foreign relations.
"However over the years that delineation of responsibility for foreign relations has shifted to allow more manoeuvring by the individual countries. Not only have the relationships in the Kingdom evolved, but shifts have taken place globally as well. With justification, we often speak of a global village. "The interdependence on each other and the constant power and political shifts have made the global landscape a rather dynamic one.
"Within the Kingdom, we see more and more that areas such as foreign relations are not static matters either, and I believe that there is an added urgency to address these areas and their structures, given the constitutional changes and global and regional realities.
"Much more content needs to be given to the Charter’s mandate that Kingdom matters must be as much as possible regulated in consonance with the countries of the Kingdom," Prime Minister Hon. Sarah Wescot-Williams concluded.