Oslo, Norway (CNN) -- President Obama arrived in Norway early Thursday to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, a smile on his face and the first lady's hand in his.
Obama, along with the first lady, shook hands with a welcoming group and chatted
before getting into a car adorned with the flags of both countries.
The president's 26-hour trip to Oslo will include a visit to the Nobel Institute. There, he will meet the five-member panel that unanimously awarded him the prize, said Mette Owre of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The president and first lady also will meet with King Harald V and Queen Sonja. He will then accept the Nobel at an afternoon ceremony and attend an evening award banquet. The prize includes a $1.4 million check, a gold medal and a diploma.
His trip comes more than a week after he announced plans to deploy additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, one of two countries where the United States is fighting a war.
The decision by Obama, who has pledged to start withdrawing troops from
Afghanistan after 18 months, comes amid rising U.S. casualties and a Taliban resurgence.
While pledging the additional troops in a speech Tuesday at West Point, the president said: "Huge challenges remain. Afghanistan is not lost, but for several years it has moved backwards."
It is "our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops" to the war-torn nation to help thwart the Taliban, Obama said.
The contrast of war and peace will be part of his Nobel-acceptance speech, which will be streamed live on the Web, said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.
The Nobel Prize win, announced in October, elicited swift reaction. Some hailed the choice, while others questioned what Obama had accomplished to deserve
. The February 1 nomination deadline came less than two weeks after his inauguration.
The Nobel decision was less a recognition of his
Hydraulic accomplishments and more "a call to action," Obama said.
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