Thorvald Stoltenberg

Thorvald Stoltenberg
Thorvald Stoltenberg
Member of the Oslo City Council
	In office; 2015 – 13 July 2018
Minister of Foreign Affairs
	In office; 9 March 1987 – 16 October 1989
Prime Minister	Gro Harlem Brundtland
Preceded by	Knut Frydenlund
Succeeded by	Kjell Magne Bondevik
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
	In office; 1 January 1990 – 3 November 1990
Preceded by	Jean-Pierre Hocké
Succeeded by	Sadako Ogata
Minister of Defence
	In office; 8 October 1979 – 14 October 1981
Prime Minister	Odvar Nordli ; Gro H. Brundtland
Preceded by	Rolf Arthur Hansen
Succeeded by	Anders Sjaastad
President of the Norwegian Red Cross
	In office; 1998–2008
Norwegian Ambassador to the United Nations
	In office; 1989–1990
Preceded by	Tom Vraalsen
Succeeded by	Martin Huslid
Personal details
Born	8 July 1931; Oslo, Norway
Died	13 July 2018 (aged 87); Oslo, Norway
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse(s)	Karin Heiberg
Children	Camilla; Jens; Nini

Thorvald Stoltenberg (8 July 1931 – 13 July 2018) was a Norwegian politician and diplomat from Tønsberg. He served as Minister of Defence (1979–1981) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1987–1989 and 1990–1993) in two Labour governments.

From 1989 to 1990 he served as the Norwegian ambassador to the UN. In 1990 he became the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, but served only one year before rejoining the Norwegian government.[1] In 1992, Stoltenberg, together with nine Baltic Ministers of Foreign Affairs and an EU commissioner, founded the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and the EuroFaculty.[2] In 1993 appointed Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for the former Yugoslavia and UN Co-Chairman of the Steering Committee of the International Conference on the former Yugoslavia. Thorvald Stoltenberg was also the UN witness at the signing of Erdut Agreement.

In 2003 he was appointed chairman of the board of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). Between 1999 and 2008 he was President of the Norwegian Red Cross, the only president to serve three terms. He was also a member of the Trilateral Commission, and held a seat on their Executive Committee.

At the local level, Stoltenberg was elected to the Oslo City Council in 2015.[3]

Stoltenberg was born in Oslo.

Youth

In his youth Stoltenberg became heavily involved in the organization of Hungarian refugees fleeing the invading Soviet Army in 1956. In one particular situation, evacuating refugees by boat in the middle of the night, he jumped into the strong currents, risking his own life to save one of the boats. One of the other rescuers, future famous American journalist Barry Farber called this the greatest act of courage he has ever seen in his life. Stoltenberg himself kept the story a secret, until Farber in December 2006 revealed it on the Norwegian talk-show Først & sist.

Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG)

In "May 1993, the UN's co-chair at the International Conference on the former Yugoslavia, Th. Stoltenberg was appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG). As such, he acted as head of the UN mission in the former Yugoslavia and served as the first point of contact for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York. All contacts between UNPROFOR in Zagreb and the UN in New York had to run via his office (...) Mr Stoltenberg was responsible for the coordination of all UNPROFOR operations, which also entailed assessments of the political implications of operational decisions as well as the actions of the conflicting parties. In practice, this combination of tasks was impossible to juggle. A serious conflict is said to have occurred between Thorvald Stoltenberg and General Wahlgren's successor, General J. Cot of France".[4]

Cot disagreed with Stoltenberg about the latter's role as SRSG, and at the end of 1993 the two tasks were again split up. Stoltenberg stayed on as co-chair of the peace negotiations in Geneva on behalf of the UN, and on 1 January 1994 the Japanese diplomat Y. Akashi was appointed SRSG responsible for all UNPROFOR operations in the former Yugoslavia. It was he who negotiated with the authorities of the conflicting parties.[5]

Political views

Lobbying for changes in drug policy

In 2010, Stoltenberg has led a commission whose primary purpose was to recommend changes in Norwegian drug policy to improve the situation of hard drug addicts. The question of heroin prescription was one of the most controversial topics evaluated by the commission set up by Bjarne Håkon Hanssen. The commission concluded in June 2010 that Norway should start trials with heroin prescription, in addition to making several other changes to its drug policy.[6][7] He also joined an international campaign for a less punitive drug policy, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, consisting of, among others, former Latin American leaders.[8][9][10][11]

Sanctions against Israel

In 2010, together with 25 other elder statesmen, Stoltenberg sent a letter to EU leaders and the heads of government of the EU countries, demanding sanctions against Israel for its violations of international law. His co-signatories included Javier Solana, Felipe González, Romano Prodi, Lionel Jospin and Mary Robinson.[12][13]

Private life

He married Karin Heiberg (1931–2012) in 1957. Their son, Jens Stoltenberg (born 1959), followed him into politics and served as Prime Minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2013, and is the current NATO Secretary-General. They also had two daughters, Camilla (born 1958), a medical researcher and administrator, and Nini (1963–2014) whose heroin addiction has been much publicized. Stoltenberg died on 13 July 2018 at the age of 87 after a short illness.[14][15][16]

References

"ISAD UNHCR Fonds 13 Records of the Office of the High Commissioner" Archives 11 December 2009.
Kristensen, Gustav N. 2010. Born into a Dream. EuroFaculty and the Council of the Baltic Sea States. Berliner Wissentshafts-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8305-1769-6.
Dette er Oslos bystyre for 2015 – 2019 Aftenposten (in Norwegian)
"Srebrenica: a 'safe' area – Part II – Dutchbat in the enclave" (PDF). Netherlands Institute for War Documentation.
"Srebrenica: a 'safe' area – Part II – Dutchbat in the enclave" (PDF). Netherlands Institute for War Documentation.
Norwegian commission recommends drug policy reform. ENCOD.org. Retrieved on 22 June 2011.
"Anbefaler heroin-behandling" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 June 2011.
Ex-World Leaders Form Global Drug Policy Commission. StopTheDrugWar.org. Retrieved on 22 June 2011.
"Commission makes recommendations for tackling opioid crisis in North America". The Global Commission on Drug Policy. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
AFP: Personalities urge new ways to tackle drug abuse. Globalcommissionondrugs.org. 25 January 2011. Retrieved on 22 June 2011.
"Who are the Stoltenbergs?". TalkingDrugs. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
Stoltenberg krever sanksjoner mot Israel, Fagforbundet
Krever sanksjoner mot Israel, ABC Nyheter
"Norwegian political giant Thorvald Stoltenberg dies aged 87". 13 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
"Norway mourns a 'national grandpa'". www.newsinenglish.no. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
Dimmen, Sofie Dege. "Thorvald Stoltenberg er død". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 13 July 2018.

External links

"Thorvald Stoltenberg" (in Norwegian). Storting.
Family Genealogy (vestraat.net)

Political offices
Preceded by Rolf Arthur Hansen	Minister of Defence 1979–1981	Succeeded by Anders Sjaastad
Preceded by Knut Frydenlund	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1987–1989	Succeeded by Kjell Magne Bondevik
Preceded by Kjell Magne Bondevik	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1990–1993	Succeeded by Johan Jørgen Holst
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Tom Vraalsen	Ambassador of Norway to the United Nations 1989–1990	Succeeded by Martin Huslid
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg	President of the Norwegian Red Cross 1998–2008	Succeeded by Sven Mollekleiv

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[1] "ISAD UNHCR Fonds 13 Records of the Office of the High Commissioner" Archives 11 December 2009.

[2] Kristensen, Gustav N. 2010. Born into a Dream. EuroFaculty and the Council of the Baltic Sea States. Berliner Wissentshafts-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8305-1769-6.

[3] Dette er Oslos bystyre for 2015 – 2019 Aftenposten (in Norwegian)

[4] "Srebrenica: a 'safe' area – Part II – Dutchbat in the enclave" (PDF). Netherlands Institute for War Documentation.

[5] "Srebrenica: a 'safe' area – Part II – Dutchbat in the enclave" (PDF). Netherlands Institute for War Documentation.

[6] Norwegian commission recommends drug policy reform. ENCOD.org. Retrieved on 22 June 2011.

[7] "Anbefaler heroin-behandling" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 June 2011.

[8] Ex-World Leaders Form Global Drug Policy Commission. StopTheDrugWar.org. Retrieved on 22 June 2011.

[9] "Commission makes recommendations for tackling opioid crisis in North America". The Global Commission on Drug Policy. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2019.

[10] AFP: Personalities urge new ways to tackle drug abuse. Globalcommissionondrugs.org. 25 January 2011. Retrieved on 22 June 2011.

[11] "Who are the Stoltenbergs?". TalkingDrugs. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2015.

[12] Stoltenberg krever sanksjoner mot Israel, Fagforbundet

[13] Krever sanksjoner mot Israel, ABC Nyheter

[14] "Norwegian political giant Thorvald Stoltenberg dies aged 87". 13 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.

[15] "Norway mourns a 'national grandpa'". www.newsinenglish.no. Retrieved 13 July 2018.

[16] Dimmen, Sofie Dege. "Thorvald Stoltenberg er død". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 13 July 2018.