He’s been at the forefront of battling climate change and environmental damage, but now Arild Hermstad is fighting for his own life. The 59-year-old leader of Norway’s Greens Party was diagnosed with acute leukemia just before Parliament recessed for the summer.
“We have professional, publicly financed health care, and the treatment I’m getting is tops in the world,” Hermstad was quoted as saying in a publicly released statement to news bureau NTB. “I feel like I’m in good hands.”
Hermstad has told Norwegian media that he’d been feeling unusually exhausted for a few weeks when he decided to get a doctor’s evaluation and undergo some tests. The diagnosis of acute myelogen leukenia came swiftly.
“It’s a serious illness,” Hermstad said, “but the doctors say I’ll receive treatment with the goal of a full recovery. We’re fortunate in Norway.”
Treatment began immediately and Hermstad himself said it would be “tough” and “challenging.” He admitted that he would need to shift priorities from politics to his own health, “with good support from my fantastic wife, children and friends.”
Hermstad has led Norway’s Greens Party since 2022, and he was voted into Parliament from Oslo in 2025. Before that he led the environmental organization Fremtiden in våre hender (The future in our hands) and led the board of the national cycling association (Syklistenes landsforening).
The Greens’ deputy leader, Ingrid Liland, is functioning as party leader in Hermstad’s absence. He’s received lots of get-well wishes from political colleagues, and from the president of the Parliament, Masud Gharahkani. “My thoughts go to Arild and his family in this difficult time,” Gharahkani said. “On behalf of the entire Parliament, I send our good colleague warm thoughts and the best wishes.”
NewsinEnglish.no staff
