Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th

secretary general of NATO The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinating the workings of the alliance, leading NATO's international staff ...

since 2014. A member of the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party ( nb, Arbeiderpartiet; nn, Arbeidarpartiet; A/Ap; se, Bargiidbellodat), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party ( no, Det norske Arbeiderparti, DNA), is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is positioned on the cent ...

, he previously served as the 34th

prime minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway ( no, statsminister, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government department ...

from 2000 to 2001, and again from 2005 until 2013. Born in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

as the son of the prominent diplomat and politician

Thorvald Stoltenberg Thorvald Stoltenberg (8 July 1931 – 13 July 2018) was a Norwegian politician and diplomat. He served as Minister of Defence from 1979 to 1981 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1987 to 1989 and again from 1990 to 1993 in two Labour governme ...

and

Karin Stoltenberg Karin Stoltenberg (née Heiberg; 23 November 1931 – 17 October 2012) was a Norwegian geneticist, politician and public official noted for her efforts to develop a coherent family policy in Norway, feminist activities, and for being the mothe ...

(née Heiberg), Stoltenberg attended Oslo Waldorf School and

Oslo Cathedral School Schola Osloensis, known in Norwegian as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1987. During his studies, he worked as a journalist, and led Labour's

youth wing A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization (usually a political party but occasionally another type of organization) that is formed in order to rally support for that organization from members ...

from 1985 to 1989. He started his career in government as a State Secretary in the

Ministry of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

in 1990 and was elected to the

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years ...

in 1993. He served as Minister of Industry and Energy from 1993 to 1996 and

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

from 1996 to 1997. He was Prime Minister from 2000 to 2001, was leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2014, and served as Prime Minister for a second time from 2005 to 2013. The following year, he was named as the 13th Secretary General of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

, and his term was subsequently extended three times by the NATO heads of state and government. Stoltenberg has been described as a cautious politician, belonging to the right-wing of

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

. When he became prime minister in 2000, he was portrayed as the "Norwegian

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

", and his policies were inspired by Blair's

New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...

agenda; his first government oversaw the most widespread

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

by any Norwegian government to that date. Stoltenberg said he was both inspired by and wanted to learn from Blair's policies. As Secretary-General of NATO, Stoltenberg has worked to strengthen the alliance's military capabilities in response to the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...

, and his tenure coincided with the largest increase in NATO defense spending since the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

Early life

Stoltenberg was born 16 March 1959 in

, into the Stoltenberg Norwegian family, the family name derived from

Stoltenberg Stoltenberg is a municipality in the district of Plön, in Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

where a German ancestor once lived. His father,

(1931–2018), was a prominent Labour party politician and diplomat who served as an ambassador, as defence minister and as foreign minister. His mother,

(née Heiberg; 1931–2012), was a geneticist who served as state secretary in multiple governments during the 1980s. Marianne Heiberg, married to former foreign minister

Johan Jørgen Holst Johan Jørgen Holst (29 November 1937 – 13 January 1994) was a Norwegian politician representing Labour, best known for his involvement with the Oslo Accords. Holst was Minister of Defence from 1987 to 1989 and from 1990 to April 1993. He ...

, was his maternal aunt. Jens lived in

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

from 1961 to 1964 while his father worked at the Norwegian embassy. Stoltenberg attended primary school at Oslo Waldorf School, and upper secondary school at

Oslo Cathedral School Schola Osloensis, known in Norwegian as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",Evjemoen in

Aust-Agder Aust-Agder (, en, "East Agder") was a county (''fylke'') in Norway until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Vest-Agder to form Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . The ...

. After leaving the army, Stoltenberg enrolled at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

, graduating in 1987 with the cand.oecon. degree in economics. The title of his thesis was ''Makroøkonomisk planlegging under usikkerhet. En empirisk analyse'' ("Macroeconomic planning under uncertainty. An empirical analysis"). Stoltenberg's first steps into politics came in his early teens, when he was influenced by his sister Camilla, who at the time was a member of the then Marxist–Leninist group Red Youth. Opposition to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

was his triggering motivation. Following heavy

bombing raids Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematica ...

against the North Vietnamese port city of

Hai Phong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong wa ...

at the end of the Vietnam War, he participated in protest rallies targeting the United States Embassy in Oslo. On at least one occasion embassy windows were broken by stone-throwing protesters. Several of Stoltenberg's friends were arrested by the police after these events.

Journalistic career (1979–1990)

From 1979 to 1981, Stoltenberg was a journalist for ''

Arbeiderbladet ''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...

''. From 1985 to 1989, he was the leader of the Workers' Youth League. From 1989 to 1990, he worked as an Executive Officer for

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every ye ...

, Norway's central institution for producing official statistics. He also worked part-time as an hourly paid instructor at the University of Oslo during this period. Between 1990 and 1992, he was leader of the

chapter of the Labour Party. Up to 1990, he had regular contacts with a Soviet diplomat. He ended this relationship after being informed by the

Norwegian Police Security Service The Norwegian Police Security Service (, ) is the police security agency of Norway. The agency was previously known as ''POT'' (' or Police Surveillance Agency), the name change was decided by the Parliament of Norway on 2 June 2001. History a ...

his contact was a KGB agent, warning him of further contact. Stoltenberg's code name within the KGB was "Steklov".

Political career in Norway

Ministry for Environment and Minister for Trade and Energy (1990–1996)

Stoltenberg served as State Secretary in the

from 1990 to 1991. He was first elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in 1993 for the

constituency, and is a member of the Labour Party. He served as

Minister of Industry The industry minister is a cabinet position in a government. The title may refer to the head of the governmental department that specializes in industry. This position may also be responsible for trade and employment, areas that fall under the mi ...

from 1993 to 1996, until Brundtland resigned.

Minister of Finance (1996–1997)

In 1996,

Thorbjørn Jagland Thorbjørn Jagland (born Thorbjørn Johansen; , 5 November 1950) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He served as the secretary general of the Council of Europe from 2009 to 2019. He served as the 32nd prime minister of Norway from ...

became Prime Minister, and Stoltenberg became

. On 29 September 1997, Jagland resigned because of an ultimatum he had issued stating that the cabinet would resign should the party receive less than 36.9% of the popular vote. Labour only received 35.0%; true to his promise, Jagland resigned as a consequence of its

36.9 ultimatum The 36.9 ultimatum refers to the 1997 ultimatum by then-Prime Minister of Norway, Thorbjørn Jagland, that his government would resign if the Norwegian Labour Party gained less than 36.9% of the votes (the percentage gained by the Labour Party in ...

, and power was transferred to the first cabinet of Kjell Magne Bondevik. After Jagland's resignation and while in parliamentary opposition, Stoltenberg served on the standing committee on Oil and Energy Affairs in the

. He became the Parliamentary Leader and Prime Minister candidate for the Labour Party in February 2000.

First term as Prime Minister (2000–2001)

Vladimir Putin at the Millennium Summit 6-8 September 2000-28

In 2000, the first cabinet of Bondevik resigned following an unsuccessful

motion of confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

. Stoltenberg's first cabinet governed Norway from 17 March 2000 to 19 October 2001. Stoltenberg was the deputy leader of the Labour Party while Jagland was the

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political ...

. Instead Jagland was given the post as

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

. Stoltenberg's first tenure as Prime Minister (2000–2001) was controversial within his own party, being responsible for reforms and modernisation of the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...

that included partly privatising several key state-owned services and corporations. In the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

of 10 September 2001, the party suffered one of its worst results ever, winning only 24% of the vote. The 2001 election met with instability for the Labour Party. The Norwegian newspaper ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

'' stated: "We are heading for a political earthquake when the votes are counted tonight, if we believe the opinion polls." In an interview with

The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newsp ...

Jagland stated "It is unstable and unpredictable." After the election in 2001, Stoltenberg and his cabinet were forced to resign, with the Labour Party suffering from its worst election campaign results since 1924. With the 98% votes taken, the Labour Party only garnered 24%, falling from 35%. Jagland, the Labour Party leader, commented on the results saying, "We will have to make a decision about whether to continue in government after we know the full results". After the election Stoltenberg said, "What is clear is that this was a very bad election." Some analysts have pointed out that one of the causes for their loss was that with only one year in power until the next election, more time was spent initiating or trying to start reforms than telling the people why they had to be done. Such reforms included selling down in state-owned companies, re-organisation of health care and public hospitals and changes in sick pay. The changes made from the 2001 election to the 2005 election were described by Norwegian newspaper ''VG'' as an "extreme makeover." Party leader election The bad election result in 2001 was quickly followed by a leadership battle between Jagland and Stoltenberg. Both Jagland, as leader, and Stoltenberg, as deputy leader, said they were open to be challenged for their positions at the party's congress in November 2002. Stoltenberg refused to say whether he would challenge Jagland for the leadership position, which was seen by political commentators as a sign that he probably would seek the leadership position. In the beginning of February 2002, Jagland, who had been briefly hospitalized in January, and had a subsequent sick leave, said that he would not seek reelection as leader. In November 2002, Stoltenberg was unanimously elected new leader at the party's congress.

Second term as Prime Minister (2005–2013)

Stoltenberg's second cabinet governed Norway from 17 October 2005 to 16 October 2013. The 2005 parliamentary election saw a vast improvement for Labour, and the party gained a majority in parliament together with the other "Red-Green" parties, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party. This paved the way for a historic first in Norway, with Labour joining in a coalition government, the Red-Green Coalition, after a coalition deal with Stoltenberg was struck. Since the government's formation, key political issues such as Norwegian military participation in the

war in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

, petroleum activities in the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian terr ...

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

rights, immigration and the quality of standard education were greatly debated by the public. Following Stoltenberg's re-election in 2009, he worked on the Norwegian response to the ongoing global recession and championed for environmentalist policies through private and corporate taxation. Medvedev in Norway (img12)

A marine border dispute with Russia in the Barents Sea since 1978 was settled when Stoltenberg and

President of Russia The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federa ...

Dimitry Medvedev signed an agreement on 27 April 2010 in Oslo. The agreement is a compromise, which divides a disputed area of around into two approximately equally sized parts. However, the agreement still needs ratification by the

State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper hous ...

and the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

in order to be implemented. Whereas Norway had previously insisted on a border in accordance with the

equidistance principle The equidistance principle, or principle of equidistance, is a legal concept in maritime boundary claims that a nation's maritime boundaries should conform to a median line that is equidistant from the shores of neighboring nations. The concept was ...

, which is recognized in international law, specifically the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea Article 15 and the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone Article 6, Russia invoked a

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

-era decree of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

from 1926, which was not recognised by any other country. The new agreement replaced a controversial temporary agreement negotiated by

Jens Evensen Jens Ingebret Evensen (5 November 1917 – 15 February 2004) was a Norwegian lawyer, judge, politician (for the Labour Party), trade minister, international offshore rights expert, member of the International Law Commission and judge at the Int ...

and

Arne Treholt Arne Treholt (born 13 December 1942) is a Norwegian-born, Russia-based convicted felon and former KGB agent who was convicted of treason and espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union against Norway during the Cold War and sentenced to 20 years i ...

, who was later revealed to be a Soviet spy and who aided the Soviet Union in the negotiations. Most of the disputed area was within what would normally be considered Norwegian according to the relevant international treaties. As Prime Minister, Stoltenberg worked for a constructive relationship with Russia through dialogue and cooperation underpinned by NATO's deterrence and defence capabilities. During his tenure, he also emphasised the need to focus on security challenges close to Allied territory. 22 July 2011 terror attacks Jens Stoltenberg 2012

On 22 July 2011, a bomb went off in

outside the government building which houses the prime minister's office, killing eight people while wounding others. About an hour later, a shooting spree, which killed 69 people, was reported at

Utøya Utøya () is an island in the Tyrifjorden lake in Hole municipality, in the county of Viken, Norway. The island is , situated off the shore, by the E16 road, about driving distance south of Hønefoss, and northwest of Oslo city centre. Ove ...

, an island forty-five minutes away where the ruling Labour Party was holding its annual youth camp. The PM was due for a visit at the youth camp the next day, and was in his residence preparing his speech at the time of the Oslo explosion. On Sunday 24 July, Stoltenberg spoke at the church service in the

Oslo Cathedral , native_name_lang = , image = Oslo Cathedral.jpg , imagesize = 230px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption = Oslo Cathedral from Sto ...

. He named two of the victims at Utøya, Monica Bøsei, who was the camp's leader, and Tore Eikeland, who was the leader of the youth chapter in Hordaland. He again vowed to work for more democracy, openness, and humanity, but without naïveté. He also said that "No one has said it better than the AUF girl who was interviewed by CNN: ''If one man can show so much hate, think how much love we could show, standing together.''" The AUF girl mentioned is Stine Renate Håheim interviewed by CNN's

Richard Quest Richard Austin Quest (born 9 March 1962) is a British journalist and non-practising barrister working as a news anchor for CNN International. He is also an editor-at-large of CNN Business. He anchors ''Quest Means Business'', the five-times-we ...

on 23 July 2011. Håheim again quoted her friend Helle Gannestad, who had tweeted this from home, watching events unfold on TV. On 24 August 2012, 33-year-old Norwegian

Anders Behring Breivik Fjotolf Hansen (born 13 February 1979), better known by his birth name Anders Behring Breivik () and by his pseudonym Andrew Berwick, is a Norwegian far-right domestic terrorist, known for committing the 2011 Norway attacks on 22 July 2011. On ...

was found

guilty Guilty or The Guilty may refer to: * Guilt (emotion), an experience that occurs when a person believes they have violated a moral standard Law *Culpability, the degree to which an agent can be held responsible for action or inaction *Guilt (law) ...

by the

Oslo District Court Oslo District Court ( no, Oslo tingrett) is a district court located in Oslo, Norway. This court is based at the Oslo Courthouse in the city of Oslo. The court serves the entire city of Oslo and the court is subordinate to the Borgarting Court of ...

of having perpetrated by himself both terrorist attacks, the bombing of the prime minister's office and the shooting spree on

island, and was convicted to ''

containment Containment was a geopolitical strategic foreign policy pursued by the United States during the Cold War to prevent the spread of communism after the end of World War II. The name was loosely related to the term '' cordon sanitaire'', which ...

'', a special form of prison sentence that can be extended indefinitely—with a time frame of 21 years and a minimum time of 10 years, which, in all, is the maximum penalty in Norway. On 3 September 2012, Norwegian daily ''

Klassekampen ''Klassekampen'' ( en, The Class Struggle) is a Norwegian daily newspaper. It describes itself as "the newspaper of the Left." The paper's net circulation is 34,000 (2021), and it has around 111,000 daily readers on paper (160,000 on Saturdays). ...

'' wrote that the Gjørv Report on the terrorist attack "is the hardest verdict against a Norwegian cabinet since the Fact-Finding Commission of 1945 ensured that

Johan Nygaardsvold Johan Nygaardsvold (; 6 September 1879 – 13 March 1952) was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party who served as the 21st prime minister of Norway from 1935 to 1945. From June 1940 until May 1945, he oversaw the Norwegian Government-in-e ...

's political career was abruptly halted." Stoltenberg said after the report was published that he had "ultimate responsibility for the preparedness in our country, a responsibility I take seriously," but said he would not resign. 2013 election and defeat Stoltenberg was the Prime Minister candidate for the Red-Green Coalition in the 2013 elections, seeking re-election for a third term. On 9 September 2013, the coalition failed to win a majority, with 72 of the required 85 mandates, despite the Labour Party remaining the largest party in Norway with 30.8%. In his speech the same night, he announced that his cabinet would resign in October 2013. Stoltenberg returned to the Parliament where he became parliamentarian leader for the Labour Party and a member of the

Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence ( no, Utenriks- og forsvarskomiteen) is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating foreign affairs, military, development cooperation, Svalbard or ...

. In December 2013, he was appointed by the United Nations as a Special Envoy on Climate Change, alongside the former Ghanaian president

John Kufuor John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. He was also Chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008. Kufuor's career has been spe ...

Policies as Prime Minister

Stoltenberg has been described as a cautious politician, belonging to the right wing of

.Per Østb
Refser de rødgrønne
transportarbeider.no. 15 September 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2014 When he became prime minister in 2000, he was portrayed as the "Norwegian

", and his policies were inspired by Blair's

agenda; his first government oversaw the most widespread privatisation by any Norwegian government to that date. Stoltenberg said he was both inspired by and wanted to learn from Blair's policies. In security policy, Stoltenberg favours increased military spending and dialogue. Defense and foreign politics JensandNato

Paris Summit for the Support to the Libyan People 04

While Stoltenberg was Prime Minister, Norway's defence spending increased steadily, with the result that Norway today is one of the NATO allies with the highest per capita defence expenditure. Stoltenberg has also been instrumental in modernising the Norwegian armed forces, and in contributing forces to various NATO operations. Stoltenberg is a supporter of enhanced trans-Atlantic cooperation ties. He has also always been a supporter of Norwegian membership in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. Stoltenberg has criticized

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

over alleged violations of international law in the Palestinian Territories as well as in international waters, such as the

Gaza flotilla raid The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six civilian ships of the " Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine activists and no Israelis were killed on one ship dur ...

. In 2006, Stoltenberg stated that "Norway condemns Israel's actions against Palestinians. Such collective punishment is totally unacceptable." Stoltenberg praised doctors

Mads Gilbert Mads Fredrik Gilbert (born 2 June 1947) is a Norwegian physician, humanitarian, activist, and politician for the Red Party. He is a specialist in anesthesiology and head of the emergency medicine department at the University Hospital of North N ...

and

Erik Fosse Erik Fosse (born December 2, 1950) is a Norwegian physician, professor of medicine at the University of Oslo, and musician. Fosse is a specialist in general surgery and thoracic surgery, and is director of the Intervention Centre at the Nation ...

for their humanitarian work in the Gaza Strip during the Gaza War, stating that "all of Norway" was behind them. Financial crisis Stoltenberg took an international role during the financial crisis by promoting international financial cooperation. This was among other arenas done through the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

(IMF) and a meeting in Chile 27–29 March 2009 where social democratic leaders from around the world met at a Progressive Governance Conference, just prior to the first G20 summit on the financial crisis. President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

was among the delegates and panel that would chart a way out of the financial crisis, which included the host

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 201 ...

, Britain's finance minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony ...

, Brazil's President Lula da Silva and Stoltenberg. A special emergency meeting of the European Social Democratic Forum (PES) was gathered in Oslo in May 2011, on an initiative from Stoltenberg and the think tank Policy Network. Both nationally and internationally, Stoltenberg emphasised the enormous costs the financial crisis had in the form of a high unemployment rate, and appealed for better international coordination, the balance between austerity and economic growth stimulus, active labor market measures for young people, and investments for increased innovation. Norway came out of the financial crisis with the lowest unemployment rate in Europe. Environment and climate change Partnering with tropical countries to preserve more of their rainforest to bind carbon dioxide (CO₂) in order to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and ...

was a policy of the Stoltenberg government. In 2007, the government received support from the opposition to a long-term agreement to finance forest conservation with 3 billion NOK annually. Stoltenberg through his governing advocated that international agreements with global taxes or quotas are the most effective means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. At the UN Climate Change Conference 2009, a separate proposal on the preservation of rainforests with funding from rich countries, advanced by Stoltenberg and Brazilian Pres.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist, and former metalworker who is the president-elect of Brazil. A member of the Workers' Party ...

in 2009 obtained support from among others U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

during COP15 in Copenhagen. The summit in Copenhagen ended without a binding agreement, but before the subsequent COP16 in

Cancún Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...

, Stoltenberg succeeded then-British Prime Minister

in the leadership of the committee dealing with the financing of climate actions in developing countries, also consisting of Ethiopian

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Meles Zenawi. Under a separate forest and climate conference in Oslo in May 2010, a proposal was presented to a number of countries, with final delivery of the report in autumn 2010. In January 2014 Jens Stoltenberg became

United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change Three United Nations Special Envoys on Climate Change were appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on May 1, 2007. The envoys will be engaging in consultations with Governments and other organizations in order to assist the Secretary-General to ...

. During the meeting there he met with Secretary General

Ban Ki-Moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Ministe ...

as well as UN Framework Convention director

Christiana Figueres Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen (born 7 August 1956) is a Costa Rican diplomat who has led national, international and multilateral policy negotiations. She was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNF ...

and both

Achim Steiner Achim Steiner (born 17 May 1961) is a Brazilian-born environmentalist who currently serves as the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and chairman of United Nations Sustainable Development Group. Before joining UNDP, he w ...

and

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

of the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

. Vaccines Stoltenberg has been an advocate for having all the world's children vaccinated against infectious diseases. The first speech he gave in his second term as Prime Minister was during Norway's "Pharmaceutics days" in 2005 under the title "Vaccination against poverty." Stoltenberg was a board director of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (

GAVI GAVI, officially Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (previously the GAVI Alliance, and before that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) is a public–private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunization ...

) from 2002 to 2005 and was awarded the Children's Health Award in 2005. An international initiative, with the UK, the

Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...

and Norway in the lead, that GAVI received more than $3.7 billion until 2015 for their work against child mortality. Stoltenberg was one of the key driving forces behind the initiative, and has stressed that this is an important contribution to save 9 million children from dying of the most common childhood illnesses. In his New Year speech on 1 January 2013, Stoltenberg spoke about vaccination of the world's children as a personal matter of the heart. "Small jabs are giving millions of children the gift of life. Simple medicines can save their mothers. The fact that all these mothers' and children's lives can be saved is—as I see it—a miracle of our time," Stoltenberg said in his speech.

United Nations Special Envoy (2013–2014)

In 2011, Stoltenberg received the United Nations Foundation's Champion of Global Change Award, chosen for his extraordinary effort toward meeting the

Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenn ...

and bringing fresh ideas to global problems. In 2019, his term as Secretary General of

was extended for another two years. Earlier the same year, Stoltenberg had allocated 150 million

Norwegian kroner The krone (, currency sign, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); ISO 4217, code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian Crown (currency), crown in English. ...

of the foreign aid budget to the same foundation, which led to criticism. In 2013, Stoltenberg served as a UN special envoy on

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

(

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

), and he chaired the UN High-Level Panel on System Wide Coherence and the High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing.

NATO Secretary General (2014–2023)

2014

On 28 March 2014,

North Atlantic Council The North Atlantic Council (NAC) is the principal political decision-making body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), consisting of permanent representatives of its member countries. It was established by Article 9 of the North ...

appointed Stoltenberg as designated successor of

Anders Fogh Rasmussen Anders Fogh Rasmussen (; born 26 January 1953) is a Danish politician who was the 24th Prime Minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009 and the 12th Secretary General of NATO from August 2009 to October 2014. He became CEO of polit ...

as the 13th

Secretary General of NATO The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinating the workings of the alliance, leading NATO's international staff ...

and Chairman of the council, effective from 1 October 2014. The appointment had been widely expected in the media for some time, and commentators pointed out that the alliance's policies toward Russia will be the most important issue faced by Stoltenberg.

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

, the chancellor of Germany, took the initiative to appoint Stoltenberg as secretary-general, securing the support first of the United States, then of the United Kingdom, and then of all other member states. Norway was a founding member of NATO in 1949, and Stoltenberg is the first Norwegian to serve as secretary-general, although former

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Prime Minister

Kåre Willoch Kåre Isaachsen Willoch (; 3 October 1928 – 6 December 2021) was a Norwegian politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Norway from 1981 to 1986 and as leader of the Conservative Party from 1970 to 1974. He previously served as the ...

was considered a strong candidate in 1988.

2015

In June 2015, Stoltenberg said, "I believe we don't see any immediate threat against any NATO country from the east. Our goal is still cooperation with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

… That serves NATO and it serves Russia." In September 2015,

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

Deputy Prime Minister Andrej Babiš criticized NATO's lack of response to the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...

. After talks with Stoltenberg on migrant crisis issue Babiš said: "NATO is not interested in refugees, though Turkey, a NATO member, is their entrance gate to Europe and smugglers operate on Turkish territory".Czech minister Babis criticises NATO´s stance on refugees
". CeskeNoviny.cz. 10 September 2015.

2016

Stoltenberg strongly condemned the

2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted to seize cont ...

and expressed full support for

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to ...

's government. He did not condemn the

2016–present purges in Turkey The 2016–present purges in Turkey are a series of purges by the Government of Turkey enabled by a state of emergency in reaction to the 15 July failed ''coup d'état''. The purges began with the arrest of Turkish Armed Forces personnel repor ...

. In November 2016, Stoltenberg admitted that some "Turkish officers working in NATO command structures... have requested asylum in the countries where they are working." In June 2016, Stoltenberg said it was essential to step up cooperation with

, since Israel had been an active alliance partner for 20 years. In June 2018, Stoltenberg told ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' that NATO would not help Israel in the case of an attack by the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 2016, Stoltenberg stated that the NATO strongly supported "the UN-led political process to find a solution" to the dispute over the northern part of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

, which has been under illegal occupation since the Turkish invasion of 1974. The

presidency of Donald Trump Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...

was a major challenge to NATO during Stoltenberg's time as secretary general.

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

threatened to withdraw from NATO and undermine the alliance. A 2021 study argued that Stoltenberg played a key role in preventing Trump from undermining NATO. Stoltenberg helped to change Trump's stance on burden-sharing, as well as maintain a robust deterrence policy toward Russia.

2017

In August 2017 the last NATO Certification Exercise of the four multinational battlegroups in the Baltic partners was conducted. Canada leads the battlegroup in Latvia. Germany leads the battlegroup in Lithuania. The United Kingdom leads the battlegroup in Estonia. The United States leads the battlegroup in Poland. This " NATO Enhanced Forward Presence" was the result of the

2016 Warsaw summit The 2016 Warsaw Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was the 27th formal meeting of the heads of state and heads of government of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, held at the National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland, on 8 ...

and much prior planning by Stoltenberg. In September 2017, Stoltenberg warned that Russia has used big military exercises, including

Zapad 2017 exercise WEST 2017 ( rus, «Запад-2017», ) was a joint strategic military exercise of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and Belarus (the Union State) that formally began on 14 September 2017 and ended on 20 September 2017, in Belarus as wel ...

in Russia's

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and admin ...

and

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

, "as a disguise or a precursor for aggressive military actions against their neighbours."

2018

In January 2018, in response to the Turkish invasion of northern Syria aimed at ousting U.S.-backed

Syrian Kurds The Kurdish population of Syria ( ar, كرد سورية) is the country's largest ethnic minority, usually estimated at around 10% of the Syrian population Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, constituting around 10 per cent of th ...

from the enclave of Afrin, Stoltenberg said that Turkey is "the NATO Ally which has suffered most from terrorist attacks over many years and Turkey, as all of the countries, have the right to self defence, but it is important that this is done in a proportionate and measured way." In February 2018, Stoltenberg stated: "We don’t see any threat rom Russiaagainst any NATO ally and therefore, I’m always careful speculating too much about hypothetical situations." Stoltenberg welcomed the

2018 Russia–United States summit Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...

between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Helsinki, Finland. He said NATO is not trying to isolate Russia. At the July

2018 Brussels Summit The 2018 Brussels Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was the 29th formal meeting of the heads of state and heads of government of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, held in Brussels, Belgium, on 11 and 12 July 2018. ...

, the Alliance reconfirmed its commitment to preserving the credibility, coherence and resilience of the deterrence and defense posture, including by increasing its responsiveness, heightening readiness and improving reinforcement. In practical terms, NATO adopted political decisions with regard to: having, by 2020, 30 battalions, 30 air squadrons and 30 naval combat vessels ready to use within 30 days.

2019

President Trump Attends the NATO Plenary Session (49168302028)

In March 2019, Stoltenberg stated that the former Soviet republic of "Georgia will become a member of NATO". In April 2019, Stoltenberg warned in a joint session of the U.S. Congress of the threat posed by Russia. In May 2019, Stoltenberg hailed

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

's contribution to NATO. He said: "Turkey joined the Alliance in 1952, and it continues to be a highly valued member of our family of nations. As secretary-general, I greatly appreciate all that Turkey does for our Alliance." In August 2019, Stoltenberg warned that NATO needs to "address the rise of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

," by closely cooperating with

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. In June 2020, Stoltenberg urged like-minded nations to stand up to China's "bullying and coercion." Stoltenberg "strongly condemned" the

2019 Abqaiq–Khurais attack Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Mus ...

on key

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

's oil facilities and accused

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

of "supporting different terrorist groups and being responsible for destabilising the whole region." In October 2019, Turkey invaded the Kurdish areas in Syria. Stoltenberg said that Turkey has "legitimate security concerns" during press conference with Turkish FM

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (; born 5 February 1968) is a Turkish diplomat and politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey since 24 November 2015. He previously served in the same position from August 2014 to August 2015. He is ...

. In December 2019, Stoltenberg told journalists in Brussels that "Since 2016, Canada and European allies have added $130 billion more to the defense budgets, and this number will increase to 400 billion U.S. dollars by 2024. This is unprecedented. This is making NATO stronger."

2020

The U.S. military's 2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike, which killed the high-level Iranian General

Qasem Soleimani Qasem Soleimani ( fa, قاسم سلیمانی, ; 11 March 19573January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until his assassination in 2020, he was the commander of the Qu ...

, brought strong reactions from around the world. Stoltenberg said, following a meeting on 6January, "all members of the Atlantic alliance stood behind the United States in the Middle East" and that "Iran must refrain from further violence and provocations." On 14 February Stoltenberg opened the

Munich Security Conference The Munich Security Conference (MSC; german: Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz) is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963. Former names are ''Wehrkundetagung'' and ''Münchner ...

. Amongst the topics he chose to address were

's call for the European allies to contribute more funds to the common military good, the situation in Afghanistan which he promised not to leave, and the desire of Russia to reimagine the world in terms of the spheres of influence of the post-war years of the 20th century. In a thinly-veiled reference to Chinese leadership in the 5G telecoms sector, he said that "Keeping our societies open, free and resilient must be part of our response... We should not be tempted to trade short term economic benefits for longer-term challenges to our security." Earlier in the day, Stoltenberg had dealt with the partnership issue, and listed New Zealand, Australia, Finland, Sweden, Ukraine and Georgia as such, saying "We support them, but they also support us. Many partners contribute to NATO missions and operations, for instance in Afghanistan or Iraq." There is a long-standing dispute between Turkey and Greece in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi ( Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

. The disagreement flared in August. The same month Stoltenberg said that "Both Greece and Turkey are two valued allies and both contribute to our shared security. There are some disagreements and I welcome that there are bilateral contacts trying to address these differences," adding that NATO is not a part of these bilateral talks. In October 2020, Stoltenberg called for an immediate end to the fighting over the breakaway

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik, and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains. The region is m ...

region, an enclave that belongs to

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

under international law but is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians.

2021

On 19 February 2021 Stoltenberg addressed the

via teleconference due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

with largely anodyne remarks. On 13 April Stoltenberg called on Russia to halt its buildup of forces near the border with Ukraine. Russian Defense Minister

Sergey Shoygu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu, ; tyv, Сергей Күжүгет оглу Шойгу, translit=Sergey Kyzhyget oglu Shoygu, . (russian: Сергей Кужугетович Шойгу; born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician who has served as ...

said that Russia has deployed troops to its western borders for "combat training exercises" in response to NATO "military activities that threaten Russia." Defender-Europe 21, one of the largest NATO-led military exercises in Europe in decades, began in mid-March 2021 and lasted until June 2021. It included "nearly simultaneous operations across more than 30 training areas" in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and other countries. On 14 April 2021, Stoltenberg said the alliance has agreed to start withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan by 1 May. Soon after the withdrawal of NATO troops started, the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

launched an offensive against the Afghan government, quickly advancing in front of a collapsing

Afghan Armed Forces ("The land belongs to Allah, the rule belongs to Allah") , founded = 1997 , current_form = , branches = * Afghan Army * Afghan Air Force , headquarters = Kabul , website = , commander-in-chie ...

. According to a

U.S. intelligence The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

report, the Afghan government would likely collapse within six months after NATO completes its withdrawal from the country. On 7 June 2021, Stoltenberg said that "we have been able to build, train Afghan security forces so they are now responsible for security in their own country." By 15 August 2021, Taliban militants controlled the vast majority of Afghanistan and had encircled the capital city of

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

. Stoltenberg said that "it was a surprise, the speed of the collapse and how quickly that happened." Stoltenberg attended the

2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The ...

, and specified that the fight against climate change also is something the military could participate in. He also expressed that militaries should work with operating both fossil and environmentally friendly ones. On 30 November Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

stated that an expansion of NATO's presence in Ukraine, especially the deployment of any long-range missiles capable of striking Moscow or missile defence systems similar to those in Romania and Poland, would be a "red line" issue for the Kremlin. Putin argued that these missile-defense systems may be converted into launchers of offensive

Tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Eur ...

long-range cruise missiles. He said that "In a dialogue with the United States and its allies, we will insist on working out specific agreements that would exclude any further NATO moves eastward and the deployment of weapons systems that threaten us in close vicinity to Russian territory." Stoltenberg replied that "It's only Ukraine and 30 NATO allies that decide when Ukraine is ready to join NATO. Russia has no veto, Russia has no say, and Russia has no right to establish a sphere of influence to try to control their neighbors."

2022

On 14 January Stoltenberg condemned the 2022 Ukraine cyberattack. He stated that NATOs day experts in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

has exchanged information with Ukraine, and that experts from the alliance would be assisting Ukrainian authorities with the matter. He added: “In the coming days, NATO and Ukraine will sign an agreement on enhanced cooperation on data security, including Ukraine's access to NATO's malware sharing platform”. On 19 February at the

Stoltenberg remarked that despite NATO's "strong diplomatic efforts to find a political solution o the Ukrainian crisis.. we have seen no sign of withdrawal or de-escalation so far. On the contrary, Russia’s build-up continues." He said "we have made written proposals to the Putin administration to reduce risks and increase transparency of military activities, address space and cyber threats, and engage on arms control, including on nuclear weapons and missiles...

utin Utin may refer to: * Utin (castle), a former Wendish castle in north Germany * Saint-Utin, a commune in north-eastern France * Ikouwem Udo Utin (born 1999), Nigerian football player See also * Utina (disambiguation) {{disambiguation, geo ...

is attempting to roll back history. And recreate hespheres of influence. ewants to limit NATO’s right to collective defence... and demands that we should remove all our forces and infrastructure from the countries that joined NATO after the fall of the Berlin Wall... wants to deny sovereign countries the right to choose their own path. And their own security arrangements. For Ukraine - but also for other countries, such as Finland and Sweden. And for the first time, we now see Beijing joining Moscow in calling on NATO to stop admitting new members. It is an attempt to control the fate of free nations. To rewrite the international rulebook. And impose their own authoritarian models of governance." On the dais with him was

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding suc ...

. Together they proceeded to give an interview to the witness audience. On 21 February 2022, Stoltenberg condemned Russia's

diplomatic recognition Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral declarative political act of a state that acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state (may be also a recognized state). Recognition can be accor ...

of two

self-proclaimed Self-proclaimed describes a legal title that is recognized by the declaring person but not necessarily by any recognized legal authority. It can be the status of a noble title or the status of a nation. The term is used informally for anyone declari ...

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

republics in

Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

. On 4 March 2022, Stoltenberg said NATO would not establish a

no-fly zone A no-fly zone, also known as a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ), is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in an enemy power's te ...

over Ukraine. He said, "we are not part of this conflict, and we have a responsibility to ensure that it does not escalate and spread beyond Ukraine, because that would be even more devastating and more dangerous." On 8 March 2022, Stoltenberg warned that if there is any Russia's attack "against any NATO country, NATO territory, that will trigger Article 5" of the

North Atlantic Treaty The North Atlantic Treaty, also referred to as the Washington Treaty, is the treaty that forms the legal basis of, and is implemented by, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 194 ...

. On 23 March 2022, Stoltenberg accused

of providing political support to Russia, "including by spreading blatant lies and misinformation, and expressed concern that "China could provide material support for the Russian invasion." On 28 March the establishment of four more multinational battlegroups in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

was announced, although the Slovak battlegroup had already been announced on 27 February. This brings the total number of multinational battlegroups to eight, and Stoltenberg said ahead of an extraordinary NATO summit scheduled for March 24 in Brussels that "we will have eight multinational NATO battle groups all along the Eastern flank from the Baltic to the Black Sea". The

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

is guarded by the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence, to which the four more would be added. A multinational brigade headquarters exists in

Craiova Craiova (, also , ), is Romania's 6th Cities in Romania, largest city and capital of Dolj County, and situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximatel ...

, Romania and this seems to be the distribution point of the extra four battlegroups. The summit statements by Biden and NATO were somewhat controversial. In May 2022 Stoltenberg said

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

would be welcomed "with open arms" to NATO if they apply for membership to the alliance. While most current NATO members responded positively to the applications, Turkish president

voiced his opposition, accusing both Sweden and Finland of tolerating Kurdish militant groups PPK and the YPG, which

classifies as terrorist organizations, and followers of

Fethullah Gülen Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (born 27 April 1941) is a Turkish Islamic scholar, preacher, and a one-time opinion leader, as de facto leader of the Gülen movement. Gülen is designated an influential neo-Ottomanist, Anatolian panethnicist, Isl ...

, whom Turkey accuses of orchestrating a failed

. Stoltenberg said that Turkey has "legitimate concerns" about Sweden and Finland joining the alliance. On 30 November at the Bucharest meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers, were invited their counterparts from

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, as well as Finland and Sweden. In his closing press conference Stoltenberg said that NATO expressed its solidarity with all three partners and also that "if there is one lesson learned from Ukraine it is that we need to support them now. The more support we are able to provide to these countries. The more support we are able to provide to these countries... under Russian pressure and influence in different ways... it is much better to support them now than when we have seen developments going in absolutely the wrong direction as we saw with the invasion of Ukraine earlier this year."

Post-NATO career aspirations

Nomination for governorship of the Norges Bank

In December 2021, it was reported that he sought the governorship of

Norges Bank Norges Bank / Noregs Bank is the central bank of Norway. The bank shall promote economic stability in Norway. Norges Bank also manages the Government Pension Fund of Norway and the bank’s own foreign exchange reserves. History The history of ...

, Norway's central bank. It was speculated that Stoltenberg would be nominated as Governor of the Norges Bank, which sources told

Dagens Næringsliv ''Dagens Næringsliv'' ( Norwegian for "Today's Business"), commonly known as ''DN'', is a Norwegian newspaper specializing in business news. , it is the third-largest newspaper in Norway. Editor-in-chief is Janne Johannessen, who was appointed ...

in November 2021, said he would accept if he was nominated for the position. Stoltenberg’s press advisor, Sissel Kruse Larsen, told Dagens Nærlingsliv that it was still too early to say what Stoltenberg would do once he returns home to Norway. Stoltenberg confirmed on 14 December that he had applied for the position, and specified that he had told the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

that he could not ascend to the position before his term as NATO Secretary-General has expired on 1 October 2022. His nomination was controversial prior to being officially announced, due to his links to the Labour Party, friendship with Prime Minister

Jonas Gahr Støre Jonas Gahr Støre (; born 25 August 1960) is a Norwegian politician who has served as the prime minister of Norway since 2021 and has been Leader of the Labour Party since 2014. He served under Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as Minister of For ...

and concerns for the independence of the central bank. His pre-nomination was opposed by all opposition parties, with support only coming from the government parties and the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

. His appointment was officially announced on 4 February 2022. However, after a NATO summit in March 2022 concerning the war in Ukraine, Stoltenberg accepted a renewed term of one year to continue as NATO secretary-general and thereby resigned as incoming central bank governor. Acting Governor

Ida Wolden Bache Ida Wolden Bache (born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian economist who has been serving as the governor of Norges Bank, the Norwegian central bank, since 2022. She is also the first woman to hold that position. Education Born in Bærum, Bache gra ...

was instead given the term that Stoltenberg was meant to take on.

In popular culture

Incognito taxi driver in Norway

In August 2013, Stoltenberg said on his Facebook page that he had spent an afternoon working '' incognito'' as a taxi driver in Oslo. Stoltenberg said he had wanted to "hear from real Norwegian voters" and that "taxis were one of the few places where people shared their true views." He added that, before driving the taxi, he had not driven a car in eight years. The event was videotaped in a

hidden camera A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another obj ...

fashion, and released as a promotional video by the Labour party for the election campaign. It was later confirmed that 5 of the 14 customers were paid and recruited by the production company that produced the event for the Labour Party; however, none knew that they would meet Stoltenberg.

''BBC Radio 4'' – ''Desert Island Discs''

On 12 July 2020 Stoltenberg was the invited guest on the long running ''

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

'' programme ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

''. His musical choices included "

Hungry Heart "Hungry Heart" is a ballad written and performed by Bruce Springsteen on his fifth album, '' The River''. It was released as the album's lead single in 1980 and became Springsteen's first big hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart peaking at numb ...

," sung by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originato ...

; "

So Long, Marianne "So Long, Marianne" is a song written by Canadian poet and musician Leonard Cohen. It was featured on his debut album, '' Songs of Leonard Cohen''. Pitchfork Media placed it at number 190 on their list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s". ...

," by

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

; and "No Harm," by the duo Smerz, one of whom is his daughter Catharina.

In other media

In the crime drama '' 22 July'', which depicts the

2011 Norway attacks The 2011 Norway attacks, referred to in Norway as 22 July ( no, 22. juli) or as 22/7, were two domestic terrorist attacks by neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik against the government, the civilian population, and a Workers' Youth League (AUF) ...

, he is played by actor Ola G. Furuseth.

Controversies

Stoltenberg participated in protest rallies against the

U.S. war in Vietnam The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the 1970s.Nato boss sang anti-Nato songs as a youth
". '' The Local''. 6 August 2015. In 2011, Stoltenberg said "We sang the chorus, ‘Singing Norway, Norway out of Nato.' It was a hit." In 2001, Stoltenberg crashed his Labour Party-owned car into a parked car; he then left the premises without leaving a note with his name or number; the damages cost 8000

to repair. In 2002, Stoltenberg admitted to having used

hashish Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitoring ...

(

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

) in his youth. He therefore asked the

Ministry of Justice and Public Security The Royal Ministry of Justice and Public Security ( no, Det kongelige justis- og beredskapsdepartement) is a Norwegian government ministry that oversees justice, the police, and domestic intelligence. The main purpose of the ministry is to provide ...

to evaluate his impartiality in the upcoming government response to the report on drugs by the Stoltenberg Commission, headed by his father,

. In 2011 Stoltenberg got a 380,000 kroner boat as a birthday gift from the

and the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions ( no, Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national union ...

; the givers also paid the tax for the gift which led to criticism.

Personal life

Stoltenberg is married to diplomat Ingrid Schulerud and they have two children: a son, Axel Stoltenberg (born 1989) who is studying Chinese at the

Shanghai Jiaotong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU; ) is a public research university in Shanghai, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university was established on April 8, 1896 as Nanyang Public School (南洋� ...

and daughter Anne Catharina Stoltenberg (born 1992) who is a part of Smerz, an

experimental pop Experimental pop is pop music that cannot be categorized within traditional musical boundaries or which attempts to push elements of existing popular forms into new areas. It may incorporate experimental techniques such as musique concrète, a ...

and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

duo signed to

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six albu ...

. He has one living sister, Camilla, a medical researcher and administrator who is one year older than him; and one late sister, Nini, four years younger, who died in 2014. Nini was a recovering

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and bro ...

addict, and the Norwegian media have covered the family's efforts to cope with this challenge. He prefers to spend his summer vacations at his family's cottage on the idyllic Hvaler Islands in the

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the N ...

. An avid outdoorsman, he rides his

bike A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

often and during the winter season he is an active cross-country skier. In December 2011, in order to mark 100 years since

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen beg ...

reached the south pole on skis, Stoltenberg journeyed to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. Although being portrayed as a staunch

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

for most of his adult life, and declining membership in the formerly official

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church ...

, Stoltenberg has stated that he does not consider himself an atheist. He explained: "Although I am not a member of any denomination, I do believe that there is something greater than man. Some call it

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

, others call it something else. For me, it's about understanding that we humans are small in relation to nature, in relation to the powers that are bigger and stronger than man can ever comprehend. I find that in a church."

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoltenberg, Jens 1959 births 20th-century Norwegian politicians 21st-century Norwegian politicians Living people Leaders of the Labour Party (Norway) Members of the Storting Ministers of Finance of Norway Ministers of Trade and Shipping of Norway Norwegian agnostics Norwegian economists Norwegian expatriates in Belgium People educated at Oslo Cathedral School People educated at Oslo Waldorf School Politicians from Oslo Prime Ministers of Norway Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class Secretaries General of NATO

Jens Jens may refer to: * Jens (given name), a list of people with the name * Jens (surname), a list of people * Jens, Switzerland, a municipality * 1719 Jens, an asteroid See also * Jensen (disambiguation) Jensen may refer to: People *Jensen (surn ...

University of Oslo alumni