A prime minister’s odyssey

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg finally got home to Norway over the weekend, four days after he started what turned into an extremely long trans-Atlantic journey. Stoltenberg had been in Mexico, Washington DC (photo) and finally in New York on official business when airports started closing because of a volcanic cloud moving east and south from [...]

Norway helps fund nuclear security

Norway, known for what’s sometimes called its “checkbook diplomacy,” has once again tapped its treasury to help fund an international initiative. This time the cause is nuclear security. As newspaper Aftenposten reports on Wednesday, Norway has neither nuclear weapons nor nuclear power plants. It has produced heavy water, though, and supports nuclear disarmament, anti-terrorism programs [...]

Questions fly over coalition’s future

NEWS ANALYSIS: The honeymoon is definitely over for Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and the coalition government he leads. After winning re-election last year, the coalition’s three parties are now publicly disagreeing on a number of issues, and questions are flying over whether Stoltenberg can keep his team in place. Stoltenberg flew out of Norway late [...]

Stoltenberg on major tour

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is on a major international tour this week, first in Mexico and now in Washington, where he met US President Barack Obama and Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke. The climate, the economy and nuclear weapons are all on the agenda. Stoltenberg was invited on Monday for a meeting with [...]

Government losing popularity

New public opinion polls are showing a major loss of voter support for the Labour Party, which leads Norway’s left-center coalition government. Labour has tumbled several points in the polls, probably because of looming budget cuts and signs of backtracking on campaign promises. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported Thursday that Labour, headed by Prime Minister Jens [...]

Government seeks advice from public

Norway’s left-center coalition government has launched its effort to seek advice from the general public, as tipped by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in his New Year’s address to the nation. Cabinet ministers are inviting input from students, entrepreneurs, economists and the proverbial “man and woman on the street.” The goal, according to Stoltenberg, is to [...]

Stoltenberg and Putin meet in Helsinki

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg sat down for talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a break in a conference dealing with environmental issues in the Baltic Sea. Their topic involved jurisdiction over the Barents Sea and a longtime dispute over borders stretching to the North Pole. It’s a sensitive issue, and Norway wants [...]

Prime Minister seeks advice, while King Harald issued some warnings

Norway’s monarch and prime minister delivered their annual speeches over the New Year holiday, and both acknowledged that most Norwegians are quite fortunate. King Harald, however, worries that maybe some are too fortunate, while Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg intends to seek advice from ordinary citizens around the country on how to tackle remaining challenges. Stoltenberg [...]

Stoltenberg offers own progress report

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg held a pre-Christmas press conference on Tuesday and claimed that 2010 will be a “climate year,” with real progress for the fight against climate change. Progress will come, he said, despite the watered-down deal that emerged at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen last week. “It’s easy to point out the [...]

Erna gets higher marks than Jens

For the first time, voters have given the head of Norway’s Conservative Party (Høyre) higher marks than the current Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. Erna Solberg also beat out the head of the more conservative Progress Party, Siv Jensen.The voter survey, carried out by research firm Respons for newspaper Aftenposten , questioned 1,003 persons around [...]

Jens gets key role at climate talks

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has been chosen to take part in a so-called “super group” of national leaders keen on pushing through a worthy conclusion to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. At home, he’s being criticized for flying down to Copenhagen on a private jet. Newspaper Dagsavisen reported Wednesday that Stoltenberg has [...]

Stoltenberg defends Obama's prize

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg firmly defended the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama. While Obama himself said others may be more deserving than himself, Stoltenberg claimed the prize was “well-deserved” indeed. “In my opinion, (Obama’s) Nobel Peace Prize is very well-deserved,” Stoltenberg told reporters [...]

Jens gets 35 minutes with Obama

And Norway’s prime minister has been seeking advice about how to make the most of his precious half-hour with the most powerful man in the world. The climate and Afghanistan are likely topics, but Jens Stoltenberg and Norwegian politicians have several other things on their minds as well. Stoltenberg has been allotted a short meeting [...]

Stoltenberg fends off harsh criticism

One of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s former cabinet ministers in an earlier government he led has unleashed a political broadside against her former boss. Karita Bekkemellem has written a book accusing Stoltenberg of being cowardly, weak and a poor leader. He merely wishes her well. Bekkemellem was asked to resign in 2007 as Stoltenberg’s cabinet [...]

Jens gets down to work

Norway’s re-elected prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, rattled off a long list of tasks that now await him after he carried his Labour Party to one of its biggest triumphs ever. Norwegians can expect a new government platform, a new state budget and probably a new line-up of cabinet ministers within the next month. Stoltenberg seemed [...]

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