Minister of Foreign Affairs (Norway)


The Minister of Foreign Affairs is a councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 20 October 2017, the position has been held by Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide of the Conservative Party.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, based at Victoria Terrasse, Oslo, is responsible for Norway's relation with foreign countries, including diplomacy and diplomatic missions, trade, foreign aid and cooperation with international organisations. Except during the four in which a Deputy of the Prime Minister of Norway was appointed, the Minister of Foreign Affairs ranks second in the cabinet after the Prime Minister and is his deputy.

History

The position was created on 7 June 1905, the day Norway declared independence from Sweden, with the Liberal Party's Jørgen Løvland as the inaugural. Forty people from five parties have held the position, all men excepting the current officeholder. From 1983 to 2013 the Minister of International Development, which was responsible for issues related to foreign aid, was attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Notable officeholders

is the longest-serving, having held the position for more than eighteen years in four cabinets. The shortest-serving is the fellow party member, Edvard Bull, Sr., who held the position for the sixteen days that Hornsrud's Cabinet lasted. Johan Ludwig Mowinckel was appointed four times as minister. Three people have sat concurrently as Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Løvland, Mowinckel and Ivar Lykke. Three officeholders would later become Prime Minister: Løvland, Mowinckel and Kjell Magne Bondevik. Two former Prime Ministers have held the office: John Lyng and Thorbjørn Jagland. Trygve Lie resigned from the office to become the inaugural Secretary-General of the United Nations. Two people have died while in office: Knut Frydenlund and Johan Jørgen Holst.

List of Ministers

The following lists the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, their party, date of assuming and leaving office, their tenure in years and days, and the cabinet they served in.
PortraitNamePartyTook officeLeft officeTenureCabinetRef
Liberal07 06 190519 03 1908Michelsen
Løvland
Wilhelm ChristophersenLiberal19 03 190802 02 1910Knudsen I
Conservative02 02 191031 1 1913Konow
Bratlie
Liberal31 1 191321 06 1920Knudsen II
Conservative21 06 192022 06 1921Bahr Halvorsen I
Arnold C. RæstadLiberal22 06 192131 05 1922Blehr II
Liberal31 05 192206 03 1923Blehr II
Conservative06 03 192325 07 1924Bahr Halvorsen II
Berge
Liberal25 07 192405 03 1926Mowinckel I
Conservative05 03 192628 01 1928Lykke
Labour28 01 192815 02 1928Hornsrud
Liberal15 02 192812 05 1931Mowinckel II
Agrarian12 05 193103 03 1933Kolstad
Hundseid
Liberal03 03 193320 03 1935Mowinckel III
Labour20 03 193519 11 1940Nygaardsvold
Labour19 11 194002 02 1946Nygaardsvold
Gerhardsen I-II
Labour02 02 194628 08 1963Gerhardsen II
Torp
Gerhardsen III
Christian Democratic28 08 196325 09 1963Lyng
Labour25 09 196312 10 1965Gerhardsen IV
Conservative12 10 196522 05 1970Borten
Conservative22 05 197017 03 1971Borten
Andreas CappelenLabour17 03 197118 10 1972Bratteli I
Centre18 10 197216 10 1973Korvald
Labour16 10 197314 10 1981Bratteli II
Nordli
Brundtland I
Conservative14 10 198109 05 1986Willoch I-II
Labour09 05 198626 02 1987Brundtland II
Labour26 02 198709 03 1987Brundtland II
Labour09 03 198716 10 1989Brundtland II
Christian Democratic16 10 198903 11 1990Syse
Labour03 11 199002 04 1993Brundtland III
Labour02 04 199313 01 1994Brundtland III
Labour24 01 199417 10 1997Brundtland III
Jagland
Christian Democratic17 10 199717 03 2000Bondevik I
Labour17 03 200019 10 2001Stoltenberg I
Conservative19 10 200117 10 2005Bondevik II
Labour17 10 200521 09 2012Stoltenberg II
Labour21 09 201216 10 2013Stoltenberg II
Conservative16 10 201320 10 2017Solberg
Conservative20 10 2017IncumbentSolberg

Minister of European Affairs

The Minister of European Affairs was responsible for cases related to the EEA and Norway's relation with the EU. The post was established on 16 October 2013 by the Solberg Cabinet, which at the time consisted of the Conservatives and the Progress Party. It was abolished on 17 January 2018 when the Liberals joined the Cabinet.

Key

Ministers