Norway's Prime Minister repeated the "Viking rowing" gesture of fans during a meeting with Zelenskyy
Kyiv • UNN
During a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit, Jonas Gahr Støre performed the "Viking rowing" gesture. The Norwegian prime minister also joked with Keir Starmer about the upcoming match between Norway and England.
Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, during a meeting with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, repeated the celebration of Norwegian fans "Viking rowing", reports UNN.
Details
During the meeting between Støre and Zelenskyy, one of the reporters asked whether the leaders had discussed the victory of the Norwegian national team over Brazil, to which Støre replied: "We talked about it," and Zelenskyy countered: "I said I congratulate it."
Then reporters asked both leaders to shake hands and pose for cameras, and one of them joked: "Don't ask the Prime Minister to row. He does it all the time."
Støre played along with the joke, making the characteristic rowing gesture often used by Norwegian fans to celebrate.
Earlier, Støre met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the British residence in Ankara. Both prime ministers were wearing their countries' football shirts.
During the meeting, Støre addressed Starmer: "Well, I must say, you know, 45 years ago, Mr. Prime Minister, Norway played against England in the qualifiers, and we won. And the radio commentator then said: 'Maggie Thatcher, can you hear me? Your boys took a hell of a beating.'"
Starmer replied with a smile: "Yes, but you are leaving out the fact that England only won the World Cup when a Labour government was in power — in 1966. So now it's our time."
"We'll see. It will be a great match," Støre replied to Starmer.
As the UK government stated, "opening the discussion, the leaders recalled the success of Great Britain and Norway at the FIFA World Cup."
"The Prime Minister highlighted the strength of the England national team and said that although Great Britain and Norway are close allies and friends, when it comes to the match on Saturday, all bets are off," the statement reads.
Note that the Norway national team will face the England national team in the quarterfinals of the World Cup on Sunday, July 12.
Update
"Viking Row Chant" is the main viral trend of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, started by Norwegian fans. The idea was conceived by fan Ole Freistad, celebrating his team's return to the World Cup after a 28-year hiatus.
During the ritual, participants mimic rowing, and after each stroke, the crowd powerfully chants the Norwegian word "Row" (pronounced as "Ryu"), which translates to "Row."
This flash mob became so popular that Norwegians "rowed" on escalators in
Boston, in the middle of Times Square in New York, and members of the Norwegian parliament (Storting) even repeated this ritual right during a working session.
After the match against Brazil, which ended with Norway's victory — 2:0, the Norwegian players traditionally performed their "rowing."
After that, the trend was also supported by the Norwegian army.