Thorbjørn Jagland
Encyclopedia
is a Norwegian
politician for the Labour Party
, currently serving as the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe (since 2009). He is also the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
(since 2009), and as such responsible for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize
.
Jagland served as Prime Minister of Norway
from 1996 to 1997, as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2001 and as President of the Storting from 2005 to 2009. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, Jagland served as party secretary from 1986 to 1992, and subsequently party leader until 2002, when he was succeeded by Jens Stoltenberg
. He did not run for reelection to parliament in 2009
.
Jagland's cabinet, albeit short-lived, was marked by controversies from the beginning to the end, with two ministers being forced to withdraw following personal scandals. Jagland, who was much ridiculed in the media for his quotes and statements and frequently portrayed as incompetent, resigned following the 1997 election
, as a consequence of his much ridiculed 36.9 ultimatum, even though his party won the most votes. In 2010 a group of forty prominent historians ranked Jagland as the weakest Norwegian prime minister since the end of the Second World War; two years before, his predecessor Gro Harlem Brundtland
had criticized his premiership in harsh terms and described Jagland as "stupid". Also his term as Foreign Minister was marked by controversies, due to his perceived lack of qualification for the office and quotes and statements that were considered inappropriate. Jagland was widely perceived to have been passed over when Jens Stoltenberg formed his second cabinet in 2005. In 2009 he was elected as the Secretary General
of the Council of Europe
.
Jagland studied economics, but quit his studies after passing the first exam in 1975. He started his political career in the Workers' Youth League
, and served as national leader from 1977 to 1981. During the 1970s and 1980s, Jagland was considered a "friendly politician" and a "confidential contact" by Soviet
KGB
sources; his internal KGB nickname was "Jurij".
and is the son of a welder
, Helge Th. Jagland, and a cook, Ingrid Bjerknes. The family was originally named Johansen, but in the early 1950s, they changed their name to Jagland, a newly constructed surname that appeared in a book published in the late 1940s which aimed at helping people find new surnames instead of patronyms, which had long been associated with the working class. Jagland was the first one in his family to go to university, although he quit after one year.
He married journalist Hanne Grotjord in 1975. Jagland lives in Lier
just outside of his birthtown Drammen, whereas Grotjord bought a house in Risør
in 2002 due to her work situation. He has two sons, Anders (born 1978) and Henrik (born 1986).
In 1966, at age 16, he joined the Lier chapter of the Workers' Youth League
(AUF). Jagland graduated from secondary school in 1969, and from the University of Oslo
in 1975 with a one-year degree in economics. By 1973, he was elected leader of the Workers' Youth League in Buskerud
, a position he held until 1975. That year, he was elected member of the Buskerud
county council
. In 1977, he became the national leader of the Workers' Youth League, a position he held until 1981. During this period, he said he wanted to bridge the gaps between the youth wing
and the mother party, but also expressed the need for the Workers' Youth League to have its own political platform. Important issues he supported at that time included the nationalization
of the oil industry, permission to conduct petroleum test boring outside Northern Norway, and that the state should use income from the petroleum industry to nationalize domestic industry.
From 1981, he worked as a secretary for the Labour Party; he became acting general secretary in 1986 and was formally appointed to the position in 1987. In 1986, he also became chairman of the Labour Party's international committee. He held both positions until 1992, when he was elected party leader, succeeding long-time leader Gro Harlem Brundtland
.
In August 1997, a former Soviet
spy
described Jagland as a friendly politician during the 1970s and 1980s. Jagland responded that all the conversations were innocent exchanges. It has later been established that Jagland was classified as a "confidential contact" by the KGB
, and that he was referred to internally by the KGB as "Jurij". According to KGB sources, he had been a useful source for political information. He had also reportedly been used as a "channel for active measures", including in the question of nuclear free zones in the Nordic countries.
in 1993, and has been re-elected on three occasions. During his first term, Jagland was a member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs
, and also served as the fractional leader for the parliamentary group of the party. In 1995, Jagland published a book, titled Brev (Letters).
informed Jagland she was withdrawing from politics and leaving him as head of government. The third cabinet Brundtland
resigned, prompting the party leader Jagland to form a new cabinet. When asked if Brundtland was sure about Jagland, he replied, "Yes. I note that I have been elected unanimously five times in the Labour Party's national congress, and that I have had all the political offices possible to obtain in a country". Jagland won the post of Prime Minister
and leader of the Labour Party thanks to the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
(LO) leader Yngve Hågensen
, who would also later support Jagland's strategy for "36.9%".
The tenure of Jagland's cabinet was marked by controversies. Minister of Planning Terje Rød Larsen was forced to resign after 35 days, after it was learned he had failed to pay all his taxes after receiving an option
pay-out in 1986. Jagland, and Rød Larsen's successor, Bendik Rugaas
, were widely ridiculed for their visions about "the Norwegian House". This was a metaphor Jagland illustrated to present his vision of Norway. In his speech to the Storting following his appointed, Jagland described the Norwegian House as a foundation with four pillars. The foundation represented, "the collective value creation within the ecologically sustainable society". The four pillars that hold up the house were business and labour policy; welfare policy; research and educational policy; and foreign and security policy. Jagland stated that everyone had something to contribute regarding the creation of the house; in particular he stated that the cabinet would cooperate with the opposition to reach these goals. In his speech, Jagland said that he would not deviate much from Harlem Brundtland's policies, but that he would increase the focus on violence, abuse of alcohol and drugs, and crime, including improvement of preventative measures and the courts
. He also stated that it was important to introduce information technology in all parts of the education system. As part of the construction of the Norwegian House, the cabinet also started to appoint lay councils, with expertise within their fields, that would provide them with feedback and inputs on important areas in society. Jagland stated that the purpose was to allow critical voices close access to the political decisions, and increase the number of ideas generated at a political level. Jagland stated in August 2008 that, "the Norwegian House could have been better planned and prepared, but I did not have the time. I took a chance. The Labour Party was down for the count. My goal was to make a good election; and we did. We have not done so well since". Jagland said in an interview, "I still get letters from people who miss the Norwegian House. It was an attempt at something new, a building project that would also inspire the activity on the side of the parties".
Minister of Petroleum and Energy
Grete Faremo
resigned following the secret police investigation of Berge Furre
, which occurred during her period as Minister of Justice. Jagland fronted the opposition to raise pensions for the elderly, describing it as "nauseating". In 1996, Yasser Arafat
, President of the Palestinian National Authority
(PNA), visited Norway for two days.
With the announcement of the new government, Jagland chose not to renew the term of Martin Kolberg
as state secretary
at the Office of the Prime Minister
. Kolberg, a childhood friend of Jagland, reacted with anger and frustration, and the media portrayed the matter as Jagland firing his best friend. Jagland said, "Martin had wanted to work for Gro [Harlem Brundtland]" ... I really wanted him to work as party secretary". Regarding Kolberg's reaction, Jagland said, "I followed an agreement between us, and I though he did not want the job. I am very surprised by his reaction". Five days later, Kolberg was appointed state secretary in the Ministry of Defence
.
, Jagland announced the cabinet would resign if the party received less than 36.9% of the popular vote. This ultimatum was based on the fact that Jagland had assumed the Prime Minister post based on the votes collected by Brundtland in the 1993 election
, which provided an unclear parliamentary basis for governing. The Labour cabinet was only supported by 67 out of 165 members of Parliament, namely its own party group, and thus had to seek support from the largest opposition parties—the Centre Party
as well as Labour's traditional adversary, the Conservative Party
—on a case-by-case basis. Since the Norwegian Parliament lacks any form of investiture
before a cabinet forms, the cabinet, if a minority government, may lack concrete support from its inception. Brundtland had already subscribed to the ad-hoc tactic during her time as Prime Minister, describing it as "slalom
racing in the Storting". However, the negotiations in order to land the annual state budget in 1996 were particularly tough. According to political scientist Trond Nordby
, Jagland felt that a cabinet which achieved less than 36.9% would not be suited to achieve meaningful results in the face of a superior Parliament.
As it turned out, Labour only received 35.0%. Again, no party won a majority, so the power was given to the first cabinet of Kjell Magne Bondevik, with Jagland resigning on 29 September 1997. This cabinet had an even weaker parliamentary basis. Erik Solheim
, the leader of Socialist Left Party
(SV), said that if Jagland resigned, "he would go down in history as Norway's most puzzling politician". In 2008, former prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland called Jagland "stupid" because of his lack of tactical judgment during the election. He responded by saying, "I am glad I am who I am, and I would never describe another person in those terms". Brundtland also said that she wished for Jens Stoltenberg
or Gunnar Berge
to become the leader of the Labour Party.
After resigning as Prime Minister, Jagland continued as member of parliament in the term 1997–2001, when he was chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. During his tenure as Prime Minister his seat in parliament had been occupied by Vidar Brynsplass
.
and his cabinet. In 1998, Jagland made several now-famous statements that were met with ridicule, including, "We will come again, yes, we are here already", "We put the foot down and stand on it" and "I usually don't look backwards, nor do i look forward". The municipal elections in 1999 continued the decline for the Labour Party and discontent grew among party members. Newspapers were full of stories about the power struggle within the party between Jagland and Stoltenberg. During an interview with journalist Kirstin Karlsen from Aftenposten
, Jagland was asked, "Did you not want Stoltenberg to get any easier start than you had in 1996? Did he not have enough time to prepare before the election?" Jagland replied:
After several years of strife, the power struggle was essentially concluded in 2000, when Stoltenberg became the party's prime minister candidate and Jagland settled as Minister of Foreign Affairs. When asked about the power struggle, Jagland said "It does not help with bulletproof
vests, when the shots come from within".
In 1998, Jagland was confronted with another incident, after being tricked by Synnøve Svabø
into placing his hands on her breasts while on national television. Svabø was at that time talk show host for Weekend Globoid. Two years later, she was prosecuted for adultery against Jagland by the Labour-politician Gaute Hareide from Ulsteinvik
. Svabø replied to here prosecution "Am I accused for the Jagland-grip? I had considered an accusation, but not three years afterwards. And not against me ... I was innocent". The police dropped the case shortly afterwards. It was seen by many at that time that Svabø "lured" Jagland.
AUF were convicted of fraud and jailed as part of the Workers' Youth League membership scandal. They were found to have filed excessive membership numbers in order to receive increased municipal grants, and the court case revealed that most youth parties and their leaders had been engaging in this practice since the 1970s. Jagland testified in the case and said it was not necessarily wrong to "advance" money for memberships, provided the members in question reimburse this fee later on. But he did testify that it was unacceptable to transfer money from AUF's main bank account to pay for membership fees. When pressed by the prosecutor, he also agreed that membership numbers were too high when he was the leader of AUF. In his defense, he said if AUF were to follow the law too rigidly, they would only have ended up with a quarter of the membership numbers that the Norwegian Young Conservatives
operated with. Jagland has later said to the court that AUF should have received even more subsidies, referring to some of the other political youth parties that used similar methods for calculating membership numbers.
In 2001, Jagland was replaced as party leader by Jens Stoltenberg the following year under circumstances many in the media deemed controversial. Earlier that very year, an unnamed source within the party told the newspaper Dagbladet
that Jagland "most likely" would remain leader up until 2004. However, before any voting took place Jagland relinquished the post. He had recently been hospitalized due to general health problems, and had moreover felt "responsibility to end this destructive personal strife".
on 17 March 2000; although Jagland was still party leader at the time, he was passed over for the Prime Minister candidacy, and instead settled for Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Jagland again made national headlines in a similar fashion to the publicity about "The Norwegian House" and "36.9%", this time for the phrase "Bongo from Congo", which Jagland used when referring to Omar Bongo
, the President of Gabon, when he was visiting Norway. Jagland stated on 2 February 2001 on the nationally broadcast television show I kveld med Per Ståle on TV 2
that "everybody at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs went around saying that 'now you are going to meet with Bongo from Congo. The term "Bongo" and "Congo" has been seen by many as a racial slur which tended to conjure mental imagery of African savagery
.
One of his first acts as Minister of Foreign Affairs was to visit Yugoslavia
, three years before its collapse, Jagland wanted to improve foreign aid to Yugoslavia and try to find a peaceful solution to the Yugoslav wars
. On May Day 2001, some protesters threw cream pie
on Jagland's face; he responded by light-heartedly cleaning himself up and proceeding to lead a labour march in Oslo
. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jagland visited Sri Lanka
in June 2001 to try to reach a level of involvement in the Sri Lankan Civil War
. After a brief visit to the capital Colombo
, at the request of the Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga
, Jagland agreed to take a role in the peace process of Sri Lanka between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tiger. In June, Jagland was invited to visit China
by its foreign minister
, Tang Jiaxuan
; Jagland left for China on 27 June 2001 and returned the following day. Later, Norway reported Australia to the UN for refusing to allow a ship full of Afghans
to enter Australian territory. Jagland, who said of the matter, "our opinion is that international law is on our side", reported Australia to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
.
The Labour Party did not fare well during the 2001 election
. The newspaper Dagbladet stated that the closing polls signalized a "political earthquake". In an interview with The Associated Press, Jagland said, "It is unstable and unpredictable". After the votes had been counted, Stoltenberg and his cabinet was forced to resign, suffering from its worst election campaign results since 1924.
Jagland lost the position of Foreign Minister as the Labour cabinet after again holding office for only one year. He was succeeded by the second cabinet of Bondevik, following the 2001 election
. While appointed to the cabinet, his seat in parliament had been occupied by Frank Willy Larsen
.
In 2005, Jagland was reelected to a fourth term in the Norwegian Parliament. Jørgen Kosmo
, the previous President of the Storting, had not stood for parliamentary re-election, and Jagland was elected to this position by the members of parliament on 10 October 2005. Jagland was elected with only one blank vote, whereas his Progress Party
opponent, Carl I. Hagen
, had 25 blank votes in the Storting. He later said:
Jagland told the newspaper Aftenposten
he wanted more Norwegian soldiers
sent to South Afghanistan
: "The Norwegian special forces will certainly be welcome throughout the winter. If NATO is demanding them, Norway should contribute". In 2007, Stoltenberg allowed Jagland to push through his plan to develop Storting as a stronger center for current political debates, thus increasing the power of the parliamentary members on issues from the cabinet.
A UN conference against racism and discrimination in Geneva
was planned for the spring of 2009. Some member states, such as Canada and Israel
, had announced that they might boycott
the conference because previous such conferences had given way to anti-Semitism
and racism. Jagland said Norway was unlikely to undertake any boycott, but he added, "The previous racism conference in Durban
, South Africa, in 2001, was a festival in the criticism of Western values. We must never allow the successor conference in Geneva in April next year to be a repetition of this".
In 2009, the cabinet issued a proposal to remove the "Blasphemy Paragraph", part of the criminal law that made blasphemous statements
a criminal offense. There was a political consensus in parliament that the paragraph was outdated. The cabinet proposed that it instead by replaced by a "Racism Paragraph", that was aimed at protecting religious groups from attacks, while retaining protection of the academic freedom of speech. All political parties in parliament, except the Centre Party
, were opposed to the "Racism Paragraph", but Centre-leader Liv Signe Navarsete
stated that she had used her influence to make the Labour Party accept the matter. When asked about the case, Jagland responded: "It will in itself be a paradox if one questions the principle that freedom of speech
is subject to the party whip. Especially when it emerges that the question may have been the subject of horse-trading and trying make small coups".
Jagland had also been critical of the lack of parliamentary control permitted by the coalition cabinet
. Critics accused Jagland of attacking the Red-Green Cabinet as revenge against Stoltenberg for forcing Jagland to resign as Labour Party leader in 2002. Jagland rejected this as "petty criticism". Jagland announced in September 2008 that he would not seek reelection. He said he decided, with "great sadness", to leave Norwegian politics because he was applying for the position of Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.
as the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
. In January 2009, Jagland visited Estonia
and met Prime Minister Andrus Ansip
, where Jagland announced he would be applying for the position of Secretary-General of the Council of Europe in the summer of 2009. Jagland and Ansip also discussed the relations between Norway and Estonia during the visit.
After the announcement of Barack Obama
as winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
, the main opposition parties, the Progress Party
and the Conservative Party
, as well as several voices within his own Labour Party, demanded that Jagland resign his position as Chairman of the Nobel Committee, "in light of the award" as one party leader said, citing concerns that he may compromise the committee's independence when he simultaneously is head of the Council of Europe.
The Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Kristian Berg Harpviken
, said, "I don't believe that one consciously excludes candidates because the leader of the committee also is the leader of the Council of Europe, but just the fact that one can ask the question weakens the image of the Nobel Committee as an independent committee, and that is a problem."
The Australian politician Alexander Downer
criticized Jagland for awarding the prize to Obama, and described Jagland as "a real party-political player" and "a fool". New York Times columnist Yoni Brenner has since coined the verb "thorbjorning", which means to give someone their reward before they have accomplished what they set out to do.
, with 165 against 80 votes. He is expected to drastically reduce the Council's expenses and activities in response to a shrinking budget.
. In 1990, he published the book Min europeiske drøm (My European Dream). He has also proposed the European Union be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
. Since 1999, Jagland has been one of several vice presidents of the Socialist International
. He has stated that the left wing in Norway does not use Socialist International enough. From 2000 to 2006, he chaired the Socialist International Committee on the Middle East, and he has outspokenly opposed the perceived presence of Islamophobia
in Western societies. He became chairman of the board of the Oslo Center
upon its establishment in 2006.
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...
politician for the Labour Party
Norwegian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
, currently serving as the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe (since 2009). He is also the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Norwegian Nobel Committee
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year.Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.-History:...
(since 2009), and as such responsible for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
.
Jagland served as Prime Minister of Norway
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...
from 1996 to 1997, as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2001 and as President of the Storting from 2005 to 2009. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, Jagland served as party secretary from 1986 to 1992, and subsequently party leader until 2002, when he was succeeded by 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....
. He did not run for reelection to parliament in 2009
Norwegian parliamentary election, 2009
The 2009 parliamentary election was held in Norway on 14 September 2009. Elections in Norway are held on a Monday in September, usually the second or third Monday, as determined by the king. Early voting was possible between 10 August and 11 September 2009, while some municipalities held open...
.
Jagland's cabinet, albeit short-lived, was marked by controversies from the beginning to the end, with two ministers being forced to withdraw following personal scandals. Jagland, who was much ridiculed in the media for his quotes and statements and frequently portrayed as incompetent, resigned following the 1997 election
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997
A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, was held on 15 September 1997. Before the election, Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland of the Labour Party, issued the 36.9 ultimatum declaring that the government would step down unless it gained 36.9% of the vote, the percentage gained...
, as a consequence of his much ridiculed 36.9 ultimatum, even though his party won the most votes. In 2010 a group of forty prominent historians ranked Jagland as the weakest Norwegian prime minister since the end of the Second World War; two years before, his predecessor Gro Harlem Brundtland
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Gro Harlem Brundtland is a Norwegian Social democratic politician, diplomat, and physician, and an international leader in sustainable development and public health. She served three terms as Prime Minister of Norway , and has served as the Director General of the World Health Organization...
had criticized his premiership in harsh terms and described Jagland as "stupid". Also his term as Foreign Minister was marked by controversies, due to his perceived lack of qualification for the office and quotes and statements that were considered inappropriate. Jagland was widely perceived to have been passed over when Jens Stoltenberg formed his second cabinet in 2005. In 2009 he was elected as the Secretary General
Secretary General of the Council of Europe
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe is appointed by the Parliamentary Assembly on the recommendation of the Committee of Ministers for a period of five years...
of the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
.
Jagland studied economics, but quit his studies after passing the first exam in 1975. He started his political career in the Workers' Youth League
Workers' Youth League (Norway)
The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...
, and served as national leader from 1977 to 1981. During the 1970s and 1980s, Jagland was considered a "friendly politician" and a "confidential contact" by Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
sources; his internal KGB nickname was "Jurij".
Early and personal life
Thorbjørn Jagland was born on 5 November 1950 in DrammenDrammen
Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...
and is the son of a welder
Welder
A welder is a tradesman who specializes in welding materials together. The materials to be joined can be metals or varieties of plastic or polymer...
, Helge Th. Jagland, and a cook, Ingrid Bjerknes. The family was originally named Johansen, but in the early 1950s, they changed their name to Jagland, a newly constructed surname that appeared in a book published in the late 1940s which aimed at helping people find new surnames instead of patronyms, which had long been associated with the working class. Jagland was the first one in his family to go to university, although he quit after one year.
He married journalist Hanne Grotjord in 1975. Jagland lives in Lier
Lier, Norway
Lier is an affluent municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lier. The municipality of Lier was established on 1 January 1838...
just outside of his birthtown Drammen, whereas Grotjord bought a house in Risør
Risør
is a city and municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. The city belongs to the traditional region of Sørlandet. It is a popular tourist place. The surrounding area includes many small lakes and hills, and is known for its beautiful coastline as well....
in 2002 due to her work situation. He has two sons, Anders (born 1978) and Henrik (born 1986).
In 1966, at age 16, he joined the Lier chapter of the Workers' Youth League
Workers' Youth League (Norway)
The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...
(AUF). Jagland graduated from secondary school in 1969, and from the University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
in 1975 with a one-year degree in economics. By 1973, he was elected leader of the Workers' Youth League in Buskerud
Buskerud
is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...
, a position he held until 1975. That year, he was elected member of the Buskerud
Buskerud County Municipality
Buskerud County Municipality is the regional governing administration of Buskerud, Norway. The main responsibilities of the county municipality includes the running of the upper secondary schools. It administrates county roadways, public transport, dental care, culture and cultural heritage.-...
county council
County council (Norway)
A County Council is the highest governing body of the county municipalities in Norway. The county council sets the scope of the county municipal activity. The council is led by a chairman or county mayor...
. In 1977, he became the national leader of the Workers' Youth League, a position he held until 1981. During this period, he said he wanted to bridge the gaps between the youth wing
Youth wing
A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous or independently-allied front of a larger organization that is formed in order to rally support and allegiance for that organization's campaigns from members and potential members of a younger age...
and the mother party, but also expressed the need for the Workers' Youth League to have its own political platform. Important issues he supported at that time included the nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
of the oil industry, permission to conduct petroleum test boring outside Northern Norway, and that the state should use income from the petroleum industry to nationalize domestic industry.
From 1981, he worked as a secretary for the Labour Party; he became acting general secretary in 1986 and was formally appointed to the position in 1987. In 1986, he also became chairman of the Labour Party's international committee. He held both positions until 1992, when he was elected party leader, succeeding long-time leader Gro Harlem Brundtland
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Gro Harlem Brundtland is a Norwegian Social democratic politician, diplomat, and physician, and an international leader in sustainable development and public health. She served three terms as Prime Minister of Norway , and has served as the Director General of the World Health Organization...
.
In August 1997, a former Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
spy
SPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
described Jagland as a friendly politician during the 1970s and 1980s. Jagland responded that all the conversations were innocent exchanges. It has later been established that Jagland was classified as a "confidential contact" by the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, and that he was referred to internally by the KGB as "Jurij". According to KGB sources, he had been a useful source for political information. He had also reportedly been used as a "channel for active measures", including in the question of nuclear free zones in the Nordic countries.
Political career
Jagland was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from BuskerudBuskerud
is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...
in 1993, and has been re-elected on three occasions. During his first term, Jagland was a member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs is a defunct committee of the Norwegian Parliament responsible for matters related to foreign policy, development assistance, international agreements, Svalbard and the Norwegian polar regions.- Leaders :...
, and also served as the fractional leader for the parliamentary group of the party. In 1995, Jagland published a book, titled Brev (Letters).
Premiership
On 23 October 1996, Gro Harlem BrundtlandGro Harlem Brundtland
Gro Harlem Brundtland is a Norwegian Social democratic politician, diplomat, and physician, and an international leader in sustainable development and public health. She served three terms as Prime Minister of Norway , and has served as the Director General of the World Health Organization...
informed Jagland she was withdrawing from politics and leaving him as head of government. The third cabinet Brundtland
Third cabinet Brundtland
Brundtland's Third Cabinet was a minority, Labour Government of Norway. It succeeded the Conservative/Centre/Christian Democrat Cabinet Syse, and sat between 3 November 1990 and 24 October 1996. It was replaced by the Labour Cabinet Jagland. The cabinet was active during two parliaments, both...
resigned, prompting the party leader Jagland to form a new cabinet. When asked if Brundtland was sure about Jagland, he replied, "Yes. I note that I have been elected unanimously five times in the Labour Party's national congress, and that I have had all the political offices possible to obtain in a country". Jagland won the post of 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...
and leader of the Labour Party thanks to the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions affiliated to the LO have more than 850,000 members of a Norwegian population of 4.8 million...
(LO) leader Yngve Hågensen
Yngve Hågensen
Yngve Hågensen is a retired Norwegian labour union leader.From an early age Hågensen has been active in Norwegian organization life and politics...
, who would also later support Jagland's strategy for "36.9%".
The tenure of Jagland's cabinet was marked by controversies. Minister of Planning Terje Rød Larsen was forced to resign after 35 days, after it was learned he had failed to pay all his taxes after receiving an option
Option (finance)
In finance, an option is a derivative financial instrument that specifies a contract between two parties for a future transaction on an asset at a reference price. The buyer of the option gains the right, but not the obligation, to engage in that transaction, while the seller incurs the...
pay-out in 1986. Jagland, and Rød Larsen's successor, Bendik Rugaas
Bendik Rugaas
Bendik Jørgen Rugaas is a Norwegian librarian and former politician for the Norwegian Labor Party. In the government Thorbjørn Jagland Rugaas was Minister of Planning from 1996 to 1997.-References:...
, were widely ridiculed for their visions about "the Norwegian House". This was a metaphor Jagland illustrated to present his vision of Norway. In his speech to the Storting following his appointed, Jagland described the Norwegian House as a foundation with four pillars. The foundation represented, "the collective value creation within the ecologically sustainable society". The four pillars that hold up the house were business and labour policy; welfare policy; research and educational policy; and foreign and security policy. Jagland stated that everyone had something to contribute regarding the creation of the house; in particular he stated that the cabinet would cooperate with the opposition to reach these goals. In his speech, Jagland said that he would not deviate much from Harlem Brundtland's policies, but that he would increase the focus on violence, abuse of alcohol and drugs, and crime, including improvement of preventative measures and the courts
Courts of Justice of Norway
The structure of the Courts of Justice in Norway is pyramidic and hierarchic with the Supreme Court at the apex. The conciliation boards only hear certain types of civil cases. The District Courts are deemed to be the first instance of the Courts of Justice...
. He also stated that it was important to introduce information technology in all parts of the education system. As part of the construction of the Norwegian House, the cabinet also started to appoint lay councils, with expertise within their fields, that would provide them with feedback and inputs on important areas in society. Jagland stated that the purpose was to allow critical voices close access to the political decisions, and increase the number of ideas generated at a political level. Jagland stated in August 2008 that, "the Norwegian House could have been better planned and prepared, but I did not have the time. I took a chance. The Labour Party was down for the count. My goal was to make a good election; and we did. We have not done so well since". Jagland said in an interview, "I still get letters from people who miss the Norwegian House. It was an attempt at something new, a building project that would also inspire the activity on the side of the parties".
Minister of Petroleum and Energy
Minister of Petroleum and Energy (Norway)
The Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy is the head of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.- Councillor of State and Chief of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy 1978 – 1992 :...
Grete Faremo
Grete Faremo
Grete Faremo , is a Norwegian politician who serves as the Norwegian Minister of Justice and the Police in Norway....
resigned following the secret police investigation of Berge Furre
Berge Furre
Berge Ragnar Furre is a Norwegian historian, theologian and politician for the Socialist Left Party.-Early life and career:...
, which occurred during her period as Minister of Justice. Jagland fronted the opposition to raise pensions for the elderly, describing it as "nauseating". In 1996, Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
, President of the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
(PNA), visited Norway for two days.
With the announcement of the new government, Jagland chose not to renew the term of Martin Kolberg
Martin Kolberg
Martin Kolberg is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, where he was party secretary.-Political career:Kolberg served as a deputy representative in the Norwegian Parliament from 1977 to 1981...
as state secretary
State Secretary (Norway)
In Norway, a State Secretary is a partisan political position within the executive branch of government. Contrary to the position Secretary of State in many other countries, the Norwegian State Secretary does not head his or her Ministry, rather, they are second in rank to a Minister...
at the Office of the Prime Minister
Norwegian Office of the Prime Minister
The Norwegian Office of the Prime Minister is a political and bureaucratic office that assists the Cabinet of Norway and the Prime Minister of Norway in the leadership of the Cabinet and Government. It has since 2005 been led by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg . Minister and Chief of Staff is Karl...
. Kolberg, a childhood friend of Jagland, reacted with anger and frustration, and the media portrayed the matter as Jagland firing his best friend. Jagland said, "Martin had wanted to work for Gro [Harlem Brundtland]" ... I really wanted him to work as party secretary". Regarding Kolberg's reaction, Jagland said, "I followed an agreement between us, and I though he did not want the job. I am very surprised by his reaction". Five days later, Kolberg was appointed state secretary in the 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,...
.
Jagland's 36.9 ultimatum and resignation
Ahead of the 1997 parliamentary electionNorwegian parliamentary election, 1997
A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, was held on 15 September 1997. Before the election, Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland of the Labour Party, issued the 36.9 ultimatum declaring that the government would step down unless it gained 36.9% of the vote, the percentage gained...
, Jagland announced the cabinet would resign if the party received less than 36.9% of the popular vote. This ultimatum was based on the fact that Jagland had assumed the Prime Minister post based on the votes collected by Brundtland in the 1993 election
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1993
A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, was held on 13 September 1993. The Labour Party won a plurality of seats, and Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland remained in office. The Centre Party was particularly successful, gaining 21 seats....
, which provided an unclear parliamentary basis for governing. The Labour cabinet was only supported by 67 out of 165 members of Parliament, namely its own party group, and thus had to seek support from the largest opposition parties—the Centre Party
Centre Party (Norway)
The Centre Party is a centrist and agrarian political party in Norway, founded in 1920. The Centre Party's policy is not based on any of the major ideologies of the 19th and 20th century, but has a focus on maintaining decentralised economic development and political decision-making.From its...
as well as Labour's traditional adversary, the Conservative Party
Conservative Party of Norway
The Conservative Party is a Norwegian political party. The current leader is Erna Solberg. The party was since the 1920s consistently the second largest party in Norway, but has been surpassed by the growth of the Progress Party in the late 1990s and 2000s...
—on a case-by-case basis. Since the Norwegian Parliament lacks any form of investiture
Investiture
Investiture, from the Latin is a rather general term for the formal installation of an incumbent...
before a cabinet forms, the cabinet, if a minority government, may lack concrete support from its inception. Brundtland had already subscribed to the ad-hoc tactic during her time as Prime Minister, describing it as "slalom
Slalom skiing
Slalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...
racing in the Storting". However, the negotiations in order to land the annual state budget in 1996 were particularly tough. According to political scientist Trond Nordby
Trond Nordby
Trond Nordby is a Norwegian historian and political scientist.He graduated with the cand.philol. degree in 1972, and took the dr.philos. degree in 1984. He worked as a research fellow and lecturer of history at the University of Oslo from 1975 to 1986...
, Jagland felt that a cabinet which achieved less than 36.9% would not be suited to achieve meaningful results in the face of a superior Parliament.
As it turned out, Labour only received 35.0%. Again, no party won a majority, so the power was given to the first cabinet of Kjell Magne Bondevik, with Jagland resigning on 29 September 1997. This cabinet had an even weaker parliamentary basis. 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...
, the leader of Socialist Left Party
Socialist Left Party (Norway)
The Socialist Left Party or SV, is a Norwegian left-wing political party. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since...
(SV), said that if Jagland resigned, "he would go down in history as Norway's most puzzling politician". In 2008, former prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland called Jagland "stupid" because of his lack of tactical judgment during the election. He responded by saying, "I am glad I am who I am, and I would never describe another person in those terms". Brundtland also said that she wished for 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....
or Gunnar Berge
Gunnar Berge
Gunnar Berge is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, born in Etne, Hordaland. Berge represented Rogaland in the Norwegian Parliament from 1969 to 1993. He was Minister of Finance 1986-1989, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development 1992-1996, as well as minister of Nordic...
to become the leader of the Labour Party.
After resigning as Prime Minister, Jagland continued as member of parliament in the term 1997–2001, when he was chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. During his tenure as Prime Minister his seat in parliament had been occupied by Vidar Brynsplass
Vidar Brynsplass
Vidar Brynsplass is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party.He served as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Buskerud during the term 1993–1997. From 1996 to 1997 he served as a regular representative meanwhile Thorbjørn Jagland was Prime Minister...
.
Leader of the Labour Party
After the 1997 election, a power struggle developed within the Labour Party, with Stoltenberg seeking to become the new party leader. Labour had lost much of its political power to Kjell Magne BondevikKjell Magne Bondevik
Kjell Magne Bondevik is a Norwegian Lutheran minister and politician . He served as Prime Minister of Norway from 1997 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2005, making him Norway's longest serving non-Labour Party Prime Minister since World War II...
and his cabinet. In 1998, Jagland made several now-famous statements that were met with ridicule, including, "We will come again, yes, we are here already", "We put the foot down and stand on it" and "I usually don't look backwards, nor do i look forward". The municipal elections in 1999 continued the decline for the Labour Party and discontent grew among party members. Newspapers were full of stories about the power struggle within the party between Jagland and Stoltenberg. During an interview with journalist Kirstin Karlsen from Aftenposten
Aftenposten
Aftenposten is Norway's largest newspaper. It retook this position in 2010, taking it from the tabloid Verdens Gang which had been the largest newspaper for several decades. It is based in Oslo. The morning edition, which is distributed across all of Norway, had a circulation of 250,179 in 2007...
, Jagland was asked, "Did you not want Stoltenberg to get any easier start than you had in 1996? Did he not have enough time to prepare before the election?" Jagland replied:
After several years of strife, the power struggle was essentially concluded in 2000, when Stoltenberg became the party's prime minister candidate and Jagland settled as Minister of Foreign Affairs. When asked about the power struggle, Jagland said "It does not help with bulletproof
Bulletproof
Bulletproofing is the process of making something capable of stopping a bullet or similar high velocity projectiles e.g. shrapnel. The term bullet resistance is often preferred because few, if any, practical materials provide complete protection against all types of bullets, or multiple hits in the...
vests, when the shots come from within".
In 1998, Jagland was confronted with another incident, after being tricked by Synnøve Svabø
Synnøve Svabø
Synnøve Svabø is a Norwegian talk show host. Svabø is best known for her 1997 boob stunt on Thorbjørn Jagland who was then the Prime Minister of Norway...
into placing his hands on her breasts while on national television. Svabø was at that time talk show host for Weekend Globoid. Two years later, she was prosecuted for adultery against Jagland by the Labour-politician Gaute Hareide from Ulsteinvik
Ulsteinvik
is the commercial and administrative centre of the municipality of Ulstein in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The urban area of Ulsteinvik has a population of 5,251 people. As such, Ulsteinvik contains 74% of the population of the municipality of Ulstein...
. Svabø replied to here prosecution "Am I accused for the Jagland-grip? I had considered an accusation, but not three years afterwards. And not against me ... I was innocent". The police dropped the case shortly afterwards. It was seen by many at that time that Svabø "lured" Jagland.
Workers' Youth league membership scandal
Also in 1998, four leaders and treasurers of OsloOslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
AUF were convicted of fraud and jailed as part of the Workers' Youth League membership scandal. They were found to have filed excessive membership numbers in order to receive increased municipal grants, and the court case revealed that most youth parties and their leaders had been engaging in this practice since the 1970s. Jagland testified in the case and said it was not necessarily wrong to "advance" money for memberships, provided the members in question reimburse this fee later on. But he did testify that it was unacceptable to transfer money from AUF's main bank account to pay for membership fees. When pressed by the prosecutor, he also agreed that membership numbers were too high when he was the leader of AUF. In his defense, he said if AUF were to follow the law too rigidly, they would only have ended up with a quarter of the membership numbers that the Norwegian Young Conservatives
Norwegian Young Conservatives
Norwegian Young Conservatives is a Norwegian youth party. Its ideology is liberal conservatism, and the party is in many ways more liberal than its mother party, Conservative Party of Norway. Henrik Asheim succeeded Torbjørn Røe Isaksen as leader in 2008.- Leaders :...
operated with. Jagland has later said to the court that AUF should have received even more subsidies, referring to some of the other political youth parties that used similar methods for calculating membership numbers.
In 2001, Jagland was replaced as party leader by Jens Stoltenberg the following year under circumstances many in the media deemed controversial. Earlier that very year, an unnamed source within the party told the newspaper Dagbladet
Dagbladet
Dagbladet is Norway's second largest tabloid newspaper, and the third largest newspaper overall with a circulation of 105,255 copies in 2009, 18,128 papers less than in 2008. The editor in chief is Lars Helle....
that Jagland "most likely" would remain leader up until 2004. However, before any voting took place Jagland relinquished the post. He had recently been hospitalized due to general health problems, and had moreover felt "responsibility to end this destructive personal strife".
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In 2000, the first cabinet of Bondevik resigned following a motion of confidence. A new Labour cabinet, to be led by Jens Stoltenberg, was announced by King Harald VHarald V of Norway
Harald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...
on 17 March 2000; although Jagland was still party leader at the time, he was passed over for the Prime Minister candidacy, and instead settled for Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Jagland again made national headlines in a similar fashion to the publicity about "The Norwegian House" and "36.9%", this time for the phrase "Bongo from Congo", which Jagland used when referring to Omar Bongo
Omar Bongo
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba , born as Albert-Bernard Bongo, was a Gabonese politician who was President of Gabon for 42 years from 1967 until his death in office in 2009....
, the President of Gabon, when he was visiting Norway. Jagland stated on 2 February 2001 on the nationally broadcast television show I kveld med Per Ståle on TV 2
TV 2 (Norway)
TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....
that "everybody at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs went around saying that 'now you are going to meet with Bongo from Congo. The term "Bongo" and "Congo" has been seen by many as a racial slur which tended to conjure mental imagery of African savagery
Magical negro
The Magical Negro, or magical African-American friend, is a supporting stock character in American cinema, who, by use of special insight or powers, helps the white protagonist....
.
One of his first acts as Minister of Foreign Affairs was to visit Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, three years before its collapse, Jagland wanted to improve foreign aid to Yugoslavia and try to find a peaceful solution to the Yugoslav wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
. On May Day 2001, some protesters threw cream pie
Pieing
Pieing is the act of throwing a pie at a person or persons. This can be a political action when the target is an authority figure, politician, or celebrity and can be used as a means of protesting against the target's political beliefs, or against perceived arrogance or vanity. Perpetrators...
on Jagland's face; he responded by light-heartedly cleaning himself up and proceeding to lead a labour march in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jagland visited Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
in June 2001 to try to reach a level of involvement in the Sri Lankan Civil War
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
. After a brief visit to the capital Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, at the request of the Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga
Chandrika Kumaratunga
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga born June 29, 1945) was the 4th Executive president of Sri Lanka, serving from November 12, 1994 to November 19, 2005. The daughter of two former Prime Ministers, she was also the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party until end of 2005...
, Jagland agreed to take a role in the peace process of Sri Lanka between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tiger. In June, Jagland was invited to visit China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
by its foreign minister
Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China
The Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China and one of the country's most important cabinet posts...
, Tang Jiaxuan
Tang Jiaxuan
Tang Jiaxuan was foreign minister of the People's Republic of China from 1998–2003.After various diplomatic postings in Japan, he became Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1991, Vice minister of foreign affairs in 1993 and Minister of foreign affairs from 1998 to 2003...
; Jagland left for China on 27 June 2001 and returned the following day. Later, Norway reported Australia to the UN for refusing to allow a ship full of Afghans
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
to enter Australian territory. Jagland, who said of the matter, "our opinion is that international law is on our side", reported Australia to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human...
.
The Labour Party did not fare well during the 2001 election
Norwegian parliamentary election, 2001
A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, was held on September 10, 2001. The Labour Party won a plurality of votes and seats, closely followed by the Conservative Party...
. The newspaper Dagbladet stated that the closing polls signalized a "political earthquake". In an interview with The Associated Press, Jagland said, "It is unstable and unpredictable". After the votes had been counted, Stoltenberg and his cabinet was forced to resign, suffering from its worst election campaign results since 1924.
Jagland lost the position of Foreign Minister as the Labour cabinet after again holding office for only one year. He was succeeded by the second cabinet of Bondevik, following the 2001 election
Norwegian parliamentary election, 2001
A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, was held on September 10, 2001. The Labour Party won a plurality of votes and seats, closely followed by the Conservative Party...
. While appointed to the cabinet, his seat in parliament had been occupied by Frank Willy Larsen
Frank Willy Larsen
Frank Willy Larsen is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party.He served as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Buskerud during the term 1997–2001...
.
President of the Storting
When Jens Stoltenberg formed his second cabinet in 2005, the role of Thorbjørn Jagland posed a difficult problem for Stoltenberg according to many commentators in Norwegian media. Jagland, who had been both party leader and Prime Minister, had subsequently served only as foreign minister under Stoltenberg and thus moved downwards in his career. In 2005, Jagland was not offered the position again, with commentators claiming that he was not considered competent for the position. However, Jagland claims that he himself told Stoltenberg that he did not want to become Foreign Minister again.In 2005, Jagland was reelected to a fourth term in the Norwegian Parliament. Jørgen Kosmo
Jørgen Kosmo
Jørgen Hårek Kosmo is a Norwegian politician. Since 2005 he has been Auditor General of Norway, after representing the Labour Party in the Storting for 20 years, of which the final 4 years as President of the Storting.Kosmo was Minister of Defence from 1993 to 1997 and Minister of Labour and...
, the previous President of the Storting, had not stood for parliamentary re-election, and Jagland was elected to this position by the members of parliament on 10 October 2005. Jagland was elected with only one blank vote, whereas his Progress Party
Progress Party (Norway)
The Progress Party is a political party in Norway which identifies as conservative liberal and libertarian. The media has described it as conservative and right-wing populist...
opponent, Carl I. Hagen
Carl I. Hagen
Carl Ivar Hagen is a Norwegian politician and former Vice President of the Norwegian Parliament. He was the chairman of the Progress Party from 1978 until 2006, when Siv Jensen replaced him as chairman of the party...
, had 25 blank votes in the Storting. He later said:
Jagland told the newspaper Aftenposten
Aftenposten
Aftenposten is Norway's largest newspaper. It retook this position in 2010, taking it from the tabloid Verdens Gang which had been the largest newspaper for several decades. It is based in Oslo. The morning edition, which is distributed across all of Norway, had a circulation of 250,179 in 2007...
he wanted more Norwegian soldiers
Norwegian Army
Norway achieved full independence in 1905, and in the first century of its short life has contributed to two major conflicts, the Cold War and the War on Terror. The Norwegian Army currently operates in the north of Norway and in Afghanistan as well as in Eastern Europe. The Army is the oldest of...
sent to South Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
: "The Norwegian special forces will certainly be welcome throughout the winter. If NATO is demanding them, Norway should contribute". In 2007, Stoltenberg allowed Jagland to push through his plan to develop Storting as a stronger center for current political debates, thus increasing the power of the parliamentary members on issues from the cabinet.
A UN conference against racism and discrimination in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
was planned for the spring of 2009. Some member states, such as Canada and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, had announced that they might boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
the conference because previous such conferences had given way to anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and racism. Jagland said Norway was unlikely to undertake any boycott, but he added, "The previous racism conference in Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, South Africa, in 2001, was a festival in the criticism of Western values. We must never allow the successor conference in Geneva in April next year to be a repetition of this".
In 2009, the cabinet issued a proposal to remove the "Blasphemy Paragraph", part of the criminal law that made blasphemous statements
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
a criminal offense. There was a political consensus in parliament that the paragraph was outdated. The cabinet proposed that it instead by replaced by a "Racism Paragraph", that was aimed at protecting religious groups from attacks, while retaining protection of the academic freedom of speech. All political parties in parliament, except the Centre Party
Centre Party (Norway)
The Centre Party is a centrist and agrarian political party in Norway, founded in 1920. The Centre Party's policy is not based on any of the major ideologies of the 19th and 20th century, but has a focus on maintaining decentralised economic development and political decision-making.From its...
, were opposed to the "Racism Paragraph", but Centre-leader Liv Signe Navarsete
Liv Signe Navarsete
Liv Signe Hundere Navarsete is the Norwegian Minister of Local Government and Regional Development and leader of the Center Party. She took office in 2005 serving in the Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet....
stated that she had used her influence to make the Labour Party accept the matter. When asked about the case, Jagland responded: "It will in itself be a paradox if one questions the principle that freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
is subject to the party whip. Especially when it emerges that the question may have been the subject of horse-trading and trying make small coups".
Jagland had also been critical of the lack of parliamentary control permitted by the coalition cabinet
Red-Green Coalition (Norway)
The Red-Green Coalition is a centre-left coalition of Norwegian parties, formed by the Labour , the Socialist Left Party , and the Centre Party. Unlike many other Red-Green coalitions, the "Green" here is the colour of a centrist party rather than an actual Green party...
. Critics accused Jagland of attacking the Red-Green Cabinet as revenge against Stoltenberg for forcing Jagland to resign as Labour Party leader in 2002. Jagland rejected this as "petty criticism". Jagland announced in September 2008 that he would not seek reelection. He said he decided, with "great sadness", to leave Norwegian politics because he was applying for the position of Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.
Post-parliament
In February 2009, he succeeded Ole Danbolt MjøsOle Danbolt Mjøs
Ole Danbolt Mjøs is a Norwegian physician and politician for the Christian Democratic Party. A professor and former rector at the University of Tromsø, he is known worldwide as the leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee from 2003 to 2008....
as the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Norwegian Nobel Committee
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year.Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.-History:...
. In January 2009, Jagland visited Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
and met Prime Minister Andrus Ansip
Andrus Ansip
Andrus Ansip is the current Prime Minister of Estonia, and chairman of the market liberal Estonian Reform Party .-Early life and career:...
, where Jagland announced he would be applying for the position of Secretary-General of the Council of Europe in the summer of 2009. Jagland and Ansip also discussed the relations between Norway and Estonia during the visit.
After the announcement of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
as winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
2009 Nobel Peace Prize
The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to U.S. President Barack Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people." The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award on October 9, 2009, citing Obama's promotion of nuclear nonproliferation and...
, the main opposition parties, the Progress Party
Progress Party (Norway)
The Progress Party is a political party in Norway which identifies as conservative liberal and libertarian. The media has described it as conservative and right-wing populist...
and the Conservative Party
Conservative Party of Norway
The Conservative Party is a Norwegian political party. The current leader is Erna Solberg. The party was since the 1920s consistently the second largest party in Norway, but has been surpassed by the growth of the Progress Party in the late 1990s and 2000s...
, as well as several voices within his own Labour Party, demanded that Jagland resign his position as Chairman of the Nobel Committee, "in light of the award" as one party leader said, citing concerns that he may compromise the committee's independence when he simultaneously is head of the Council of Europe.
The Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Kristian Berg Harpviken
Kristian Berg Harpviken
Kristian Berg Harpviken is a Norwegian sociologist and researcher, and since 2009 director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo...
, said, "I don't believe that one consciously excludes candidates because the leader of the committee also is the leader of the Council of Europe, but just the fact that one can ask the question weakens the image of the Nobel Committee as an independent committee, and that is a problem."
The Australian politician Alexander Downer
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was Foreign Minister of Australia from March 1996 to December 2007, the longest-serving in Australian history...
criticized Jagland for awarding the prize to Obama, and described Jagland as "a real party-political player" and "a fool". New York Times columnist Yoni Brenner has since coined the verb "thorbjorning", which means to give someone their reward before they have accomplished what they set out to do.
Secretary General of the Council of Europe
On 30 September 2009, Thorbjørn Jagland was elected to the position of Secretary-General of the Council of EuropeCouncil of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
, with 165 against 80 votes. He is expected to drastically reduce the Council's expenses and activities in response to a shrinking budget.
Political views
Jagland is in favour of Norwegian membership in the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. In 1990, he published the book Min europeiske drøm (My European Dream). He has also proposed the European Union be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
. Since 1999, Jagland has been one of several vice presidents of the Socialist International
Socialist International
The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...
. He has stated that the left wing in Norway does not use Socialist International enough. From 2000 to 2006, he chaired the Socialist International Committee on the Middle East, and he has outspokenly opposed the perceived presence of Islamophobia
Islamophobia
Islamophobia describes prejudice against, hatred or irrational fear of Islam or MuslimsThe term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States....
in Western societies. He became chairman of the board of the Oslo Center
The Oslo Center
The Oslo Center was founded by former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik in January 2006. The purpose of the center is to work for world peace, human rights and inter-religious tolerance world wide. The center cooperates closely with the Carter Center in Atlanta, the Kim Dae Jung Library...
upon its establishment in 2006.
External links
- Norway's Prime Ministers – A pictorial with portraits of Norway's Prime Ministers (Aftenposten)