COPENHAGEN, Feb. 4 (Bernama-dpa) -- Former NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg is to become Norway's new finance minister, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
"Having carefully considered the current challenges we face, I have decided to accept Prime Minister (Jonas Gahr) Støre's request to serve as finance minister," Stoltenberg said in a written statement on Tuesday.
At the end of January, the governing coalition in Norway broke up over the implementation of EU regulations for the energy market. The Centre Party, which had been the junior partner of Støre's Social Democrats, quit the government in the wake of the disagreements.
That meant Støre had to fill eight new ministerial posts that were previously held by Centre Party politicians.
In a live broadcast on the Norwegian government's website, Stoltenberg appeared on the square in front of the royal palace in Oslo together with Støre and the rest of his Cabinet.
Other new faces in the government include Tore O Sandvik as minister of defence and Astri Aas-Hansen as minister of justice.
Stoltenberg was prime minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2013, and secretary general of NATO from 2014 to 2024.
As recently as the autumn of 2024, Stoltenberg had insisted that he had no intention of returning to top-level politics in his home country.
The next Norwegian parliamentary election is scheduled for September. The Norwegian constitution does not provide for elections to be held early.
--BERNAMA-dpa
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
