Jens Stoltenberg, the former Secretary General of NATO, has been appointed as finance minister of Norway, the government announced on Tuesday.
Stoltenberg headed NATO for a decade, including during US President Donald Trump’s first term, before handing over to current Secretary-General Mark Rutte in October 2024.
At NATO, Stoltenberg was dubbed the “Trump-whisperer” for convincing Trump to stick with the alliance after the US president complained during his first term that allies were spending too little on defense and threatened to pull out.
Reputation as a pragmatist
Viewed as a pragmatist with good political intuition, Stoltenberg’s term at NATO was extended after Russian launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The 65-year old is now returning to Norway’s government. He had previously been Norway’s prime minister as well as finance minister.
Stoltenberg is returning to government after Norway’s governing coalition split last week with the junior partner, the Center Party, announcing its departure.
Stoltenberg was due to take over as head of the Munich Security Conference in Germany, a leading forum for discussions of international security policy.
Stoltenberg said he would return to the Munich Security Conference when his tenure as finance minister was over.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar
