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Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s former secretary-general, is to make a shock return to the frontline of Norwegian politics as finance minister, in response to folks conversant in the matter, because the Nordic nation frets about being caught in the midst of a US-EU commerce warfare.
Stoltenberg, who was Norway’s prime minister in 2000-01 and 2005-13, will change into finance minister on Tuesday after the earlier coalition authorities in western Europe’s largest petroleum producer collapsed due to a row over EU power insurance policies.
He served as head of Nato for a decade till final yr, identified for his good relations with US President Donald Trump and for getting Sweden and Finland into the navy alliance following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
One in all Stoltenberg’s first jobs will likely be to cope with the prospect of Norway, which isn’t a member of the EU, doubtlessly being hit by tariffs from each Brussels and Washington.
This comes concurrently the extraordinary power debate that final week felled the earlier coalition authorities over whether or not Norway ought to maintain extra of its electrical energy for itself to decrease costs for shoppers or export it to the EU and UK, a problem seen as essential to future relations with Brussels.
Stoltenberg was a charismatic chief of Norway’s one-time dominant Labour social gathering for greater than a decade till taking on the Nato position in 2014. He was set to return to Norway as central financial institution chief in 2022 however was compelled to show down the job after receiving an extension at Nato.
His position will now be to reinvigorate the fortunes of a stumbling Labour social gathering forward of parliamentary elections in September, in addition to coping with issues between Oslo and its two fundamental allies, the US and EU.
Stoltenberg turned referred to as the “Trump whisperer” throughout his time at Nato for his capacity to handle the unstable US president, praising him for his efforts to lift defence spending throughout the alliance.
Norway was set to satisfy Nato’s casual goal of two per cent of GDP spending on defence solely final yr, and spends proportionately far lower than different international locations bordering Russia akin to Poland, Estonia and Lithuania.
Stoltenberg’s entry into Norway’s authorities comes after its two-party minority coalition collapsed final week over whether or not to signal a number of EU power directives into legislation. The agricultural, Eurosceptic Centre social gathering — led by former finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum — determined to go away, arguing Norway wanted a brand new, extra protectionist course on electrical energy.
The Labour social gathering — led by Stoltenberg’s pal, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre — will now govern alone till the September elections, and has made a number of new electrical energy proposals together with a assured nationwide low cost worth for energy and no new interconnectors for export to Europe.
The latter problem is especially controversial in each Oslo and Brussels. Subsequent yr, two electrical energy interconnectors to Denmark from Norway are resulting from expire and the Labour social gathering has indicated that it’ll marketing campaign within the elections to not renew them. However this has sparked fury in Denmark, Sweden and throughout the EU.
