Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Encyclopedia
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Norwegian (Bokmål)
Bokmål
Bokmål is one of two official Norwegian written standard languages, the other being Nynorsk. Bokmål is used by 85–90% of the population in Norway, and is the standard most commonly taught to foreign students of the Norwegian language....

: Det kongelige Utenriksdepartement; Norwegian (Nynorsk): Det kongelege Utanriksdepartement) is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. It was established on June 7, 1905, the same day the Parliament of Norway (Stortinget) decided to dissolve the personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...

 with Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

.

The ministry is headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs, currently Jonas Gahr Støre
Jonas Gahr Støre
Jonas Gahr Støre is the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, having been appointed to Jens Stoltenberg's second cabinet on 17 October 2005. He represents the Norwegian Labour Party.-Personal life:...

, and the Minister of International Development, currently Erik Solheim
Erik Solheim
Erik Solheim is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party . He holds two posts in the current Norwegian cabinet, and carries the title Minister of the Environment and Minister of Development Cooperation...

. They have been cabinet ministers in the Red-Green Coalition government headed by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Norway
The Prime Minister of Norway is the political leader of Norway and the Head of His Majesty's Government. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Stortinget , to their political party, and ultimately the...

 Jens Stoltenberg
Jens Stoltenberg
is a Norwegian politician, leader of the Norwegian Labour Party and the current Prime Minister of Norway. Having assumed office on 17 October 2005, Stoltenberg previously served as Prime Minister from 2000 to 2001....

 since October 17, 2005. The ministry must not be related with the Norwegian Ministry of Defence
Norwegian Ministry of Defence
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Defence is a Norwegian government ministry in charge of the formation and implementation of national security and defence policy, and for the overall management and control of the activities of subordinate agencies. The ministry is located at Glacisgata 1, Oslo,...

 that leads the defence-related agencies and units of the country.

Organisation

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organised with 110 foreign missions and three subordinate organisations: Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation is a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its task is to ensure effective foreign aid, with quality assurance and evaluation. NORAD both finances NGOs, and does its own research and projects. The current director general is...

 (Norad), FK Norway
Fredskorpset
FK Norway is a Norwegian governmental body financing two-way mutual personnel exchange between companies and organisations in Norway and similar companies and organisations in the South - that is countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America....

 (the Norwegian "Peace Corps") and the development country investment fund Norfund
Norfund
Norfund is a private equity company established by the Norwegian Storting in 1997 and owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fund receives its investment capital from the state budget...

. The Ministry and foreign missions have a total staff of approx. 2,400.

The Political level

Unlike most Norwegian ministries the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has two ministers as head of the organisation. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is head of most policy areas and the administrative areas while the Minister of International Development heads the policy areas connected with international development. Some departments in the ministry thus report to both ministers.

Minister of Foreign Affairs (Jonas Gahr Støre
Jonas Gahr Støre
Jonas Gahr Støre is the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, having been appointed to Jens Stoltenberg's second cabinet on 17 October 2005. He represents the Norwegian Labour Party.-Personal life:...

)
  • Two State Secretaries (Raymond Johansen
    Raymond Johansen
    Raymond Johansen is a Norwegian politician and party secretary of the Labour Party, following the footsteps of his uncle, Thorbjørn Berntsen, who is one of the veterans of the Norwegian Labour Party....

     and Liv Monica Bargem Stubholt)
  • Political Advisor (Gry Larsen
    Gry Larsen
    Gry Larsen is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party.From 2002 to 2006 she was the leader of the Workers' Youth League, the youth wing of the Labour Party....

    )
  • Secretariat of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Communication Unit
  • Legal Adviser


Minister of International Development (Erik Solheim
Erik Solheim
Erik Solheim is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party . He holds two posts in the current Norwegian cabinet, and carries the title Minister of the Environment and Minister of Development Cooperation...

)
  • State Secretary (Anne Margareth Fagertun Stenhammer)
  • Political Advisor (Torbjørn Urfjell
    Torbjørn Urfjell
    Torbjørn Urfjell is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party.From 2005 to 2007, during the second cabinet Stoltenberg, Urfjell was appointed political advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs....

    )
  • Secretariat of the Minister of International Development
  • Head of Information
  • Analytical Unit

The Operational level

The top public servant is the Secretary General (utenriksråd) with an Assistant Secretary General as substitute (the latter also with a special responsibility for international development issues).

The Ministry was reorganised on June 19, 2006 - and currently has eight departments, each headed by a Director General (ekspedisjonssjef):
  • Department for European Affairs and Trade Policy
  • Department for Security Policy and the High North
  • Department for Regional Affairs and Development
  • Department for UN, Peace and Humanitarian Affairs
  • Legal Affairs Department
  • Promotion and Protocol Department
  • Human and Financial Resources Department
  • Internal and External Services Department

Subsidiaries

  • Norfund
    Norfund
    Norfund is a private equity company established by the Norwegian Storting in 1997 and owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fund receives its investment capital from the state budget...

  • Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
    Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
    The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation is a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its task is to ensure effective foreign aid, with quality assurance and evaluation. NORAD both finances NGOs, and does its own research and projects. The current director general is...

     (Norad)
  • Fredskorpset
    Fredskorpset
    FK Norway is a Norwegian governmental body financing two-way mutual personnel exchange between companies and organisations in Norway and similar companies and organisations in the South - that is countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America....


External links

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