Norway’s former PM named new NATO chief

Former Norwegian premier Jens Stoltenberg takes over from current secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

BRUSSELS:

Former Norwegian premier Jens Stoltenberg was named the next Nato chief on Friday, stepping in to take over from current secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen at a key moment in Europe.

“Mr Stoltenberg will assume his functions as Secretary General from October 1, 2014, when Mr. Fogh Rasmussen’s term expires after 5 years and 2 months at the helm of the alliance,” Nato said in a statement.

An economist by training and a radical opponent of the defence alliance in his youth, Stoltenberg takes the helm of the 28-nation transatlantic alliance as Europe worries over a Russian buildup on its eastern fringe after Moscow’s takeover of Crimea.

In almost a decade leading the government, Stoltenberg, who is the head of Norway’s Labour Party, became known as a consensus maker, giving him some of the right credentials to maintain good relations with Russia.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2014.