– What I remember best from this year is Russia’s attack on Ukraine. That I was called and told that the attack is now underway. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg looks back on the year that has passed. A date stands out. When what they had feared, but waited for, actually happens. It is the night of Thursday, February 24. – I was called by my chief of staff early in the morning. He said that now it is underway. I knew very well what that meant. When Stoltenberg went to bed the night before, he knew that the invasion would come within a few hours. – Instead of sitting up and waiting for them to actually march into Ukraine, I tried to get some sleep. It was a strange night. Early on he went to the Nato office. – Everyone was already there, because this was no surprise. It was an invasion we had anticipated for weeks and months in advance. In front of a serious press corps, Stoltenberg stated that the peace on the European continent had been shattered: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg holds a press conference on 24 February. The difficult conversation There was one phone call in particular that awaited after the invasion was a fact. The conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. – We were supposed to talk a few hours after the invasion, but he couldn’t do that. He was down in the bunker, says Stoltenberg. He knew Zelenskyi. The two leaders had worked together a lot and met each other several times, in Kyiv and in Brussels. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj looks on as Jens Stoltenberg signs a guest book during a visit to Kyiv in October 2019. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky / AP Zelenskyj now found himself in the middle of a war situation. There were attacks against the country he led, and his life was in danger. Special soldiers from Russia are said to have tried to enter the presidential palace and get hold of him. – It is a bit unreal to sit safely in an office in Brussels and talk to someone whose life is in danger in Kyiv. When they got to talk, the day after the invasion began, Zelenskyy asked for NATO support. Stoltenberg agreed to that. But the president also called for a no-fly zone. That Nato should go in with its planes and block the airspace over Ukraine. – There is something NATO can do, but I said no to that, says Stoltenberg. Many civilians have been affected by the Russian attacks against Ukraine. Here from a destroyed residential building outside Kyiv on February 25, the day after the invasion began. Photo: DANIEL LEAL / AFP NATO could not risk a full-scale war with Russia in Europe. – What we see in Ukraine is terrible. Death, destruction, suffering. But a full-blown war in Europe would be so infinitely worse for so many more people. So we have chosen to support them with weapons, training, but not become part of the war. Stoltenberg had to tell Zelenskyj this on the phone. – It is emotionally difficult when a man in that situation, for whom I have enormous respect, asks for something we can give. Namely, closing the airspace over Ukraine, keeping Russian planes and missiles out. I also say: We don’t do that. President Zelenskyy addressed the US National Assembly and asked for a no-fly zone to be imposed over Ukraine. Photo: J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE / AFP Did not speak to Putin “A determined person who knows what he wants.” This is how Jens Stoltenberg describes Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The two met for the first time in 2000, when Putin was the newly elected president of Russia and Stoltenberg was the newly elected prime minister. – At the beginning of the 2000s, we all hoped and believed in a peaceful, better cooperation with Russia. Jens Stoltenberg, then new Prime Minister of Norway, and Russian President Vladimir Putin met during a UN summit in September 2000. Photo: VIKTOR KOROTAYEV / Reuters The relationship deteriorated little by little. Stoltenberg mentions Russia’s war in Chechnya, attacks against Georgia, support for the Assad regime in Syria and the first attacks against Ukraine in 2014. – This year I have had no direct contact with him, says the NATO chief. – There is no purpose until you have something meaningful to talk about, and something that can actually produce results. As the situation is now, with battles and brutal warfare, we need to see more will on Russia’s part before there are any real opportunities for negotiations. The dream job that slipped Stoltenberg had not foreseen that such a crisis in Europe would happen on his watch as Secretary General of NATO. – When I agreed to the job in January 2014, I had not imagined that there would be a full-scale war in Europe while I had that responsibility. A year ago, he said no to continuing another term in the position. On 4 February, just weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he was appointed as the new governor of the central bank back home in Norway. A position he had previously described as a dream job. Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum presented Jens Stoltenberg as the new head of Norges Bank on 4 February 2022. Photo: Ismail Burak Akkan Then the war broke out. It became even more important for NATO to appear as a united and strong defense alliance. Stoltenberg received calls to continue. And he turned. On 24 March, he resigned from his position as head of Norges Bank, to continue in NATO. According to him himself, this was the most important thing he could do in his life. Stoltenberg is said to have received calls from, among others, the United States and Germany to continue in his role as NATO chief. Here he stands with US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a NATO summit on 24 March. Photo: Michael Kappeler / Reuters – It’s with me all the time For the Nato commander, the year 2022 has been characterized by the seriousness of the war. He says that it does not affect his night’s sleep, but it is a big responsibility that rests on his shoulders. – It’s with me all the time. It is with me throughout the day, when I go to bed and when I wake up. – The news is filled with a lot of negativity this year. What will you draw out of hope? – I am fundamentally a hopeful person. I am fundamentally an optimist. The world has moved forward over the years, says Stoltenberg. – We in Europe have experienced a brutal war. But I also have hope linked to the fact that democracy, freedom is a very strong force. I believe in the resilience of democracy against the authoritarianism we see President Putin representing. I also believe that as long as North America and Europe stand together, we are strong enough to prevent war in our countries. See news’s interview with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg in the Annual Review: The war in Ukraine and a more expensive everyday life for most Norwegians have characterized the news year 2022. Review of small and big news. Program manager Jon Gelius.
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Had not foreseen a full-scale war in Europe while he was NATO chief – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
