(Adnkronos) – Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is Norway’s new Finance Minister. Stoltenberg himself announced it, explaining in a note that after “carefully” considering the challenges facing the Scandinavian country, “I have decided to accept Prime Minister Store’s request to serve as Finance Minister”.
At the end of January, the Eurosceptic Centre Party broke its alliance with Store’s Social Democrats and left the coalition following a clash over the integration of the country’s electricity market with that of the EU. The Prime Minister therefore had to fill eight ministerial positions left vacant by party exponents.
In a live broadcast on the Norwegian government’s website, Stoltenberg – who as recently as last autumn reiterated that he did not want to return to politics – appeared in the square in front of the Royal Palace in Oslo together with Store and the rest of the new cabinet, which also includes Tore O Sandvik as Defence Minister and Astri Aas-Hansen as Justice Minister. Stoltenberg was Prime Minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2013, and Secretary General of NATO from 2014 to 2024. The next parliamentary elections in the country are scheduled for September. The Norwegian constitution does not provide for early elections.
