Jens Stoltenberg says Norway has no “war raiders”

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Jens Stoltenberg refused to accuse Norway of being a “war raider” who sold record amounts of oil and gas to Europe after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The former NATO secretary-general took over as Norwegian finance minister earlier this week, told the Financial Times that he disagrees with scholars and the media, which shows that his country has made huge profits since 2022 and insists that Oslo For some time, Europe has provided an indispensable alternative energy supply crisis.

“European countries recognize the importance of Norwegian natural gas mitigating the consequences of Russian natural gas,” he said.

Norwegian gas now accounts for about 30% of the group's supply, and the EU has imported 40% of its gas from Russia before the war. Norway is also a large oil exporter, with nearly 90% traveling to the EU.

Stoltenberg also stressed that Oslo's military support for Ukraine has increased and is ready to do more.

Donald Trump’s return to the White House sparked a fierce debate in Norway about whether Western Europe’s largest oil producers need to be close to the EU to avoid any impact on the potential trade war. The U.S. president refused to rule out amplification of military and economic actions in neighboring Denmark to abandon control of Greenland.

Stoltenberg, who was known as the “Trump Whisperer” from the beginning of Nato, said Norway will first “do our best to prevent a trade war between the United States and Europe.”

However, if tariffs are imposed, Norway will “work with the EU to find a way to finally enter between the two trading groups”.

He said his country remains committed to building strong ties with the EU after the last coalition government collapse, trying to force EU energy rules. Norway is a member of NATO but not an EU, and it adopts most of the laws agreed in Brussels as part of its European economic membership.

“It's hard to imagine a stronger commitment to the EU than what we've seen in the last few days, and we're actually ready to take that consequence,” he said.

Norwegian Labor Party now holds a minority government in Oslo after its Eurosceptics' parenting centre party left the coalition over disputes related to the implementation of EU clean energy rules.

Stoltenberg led the Labor Party for more than a decade and served as prime minister for nine years before becoming NATO chief. His return to Norwegian politics has already provided electric power to the sport ahead of September's parliamentary elections, and his Labour party jumped from third to first in a poll on Thursday.

However, Norway still faces ties with Brussels, as current Prime Minister and close friend of Stoltenberg, Jonas Gahr Støre, said he would not enforce other EU energy rules or allow any new ones Power interconnector.

Norway is reluctant to sign two interconnectors to Denmark continuously due to expiration next year, and ahead of parliamentary elections in September, some parties questioned other energy links, and despite increased gas sales, relations with the EU have deteriorated .