Thorbjørn Jagland

Thorbjørn Jagland
Jagland in 2016
Secretary General of the Council of Europe
In office
1 October 2009 – 18 September 2019
DeputyGabriella Battaini-Dragoni
Preceded byMaud de Boer-Buquicchio (Acting)
Succeeded byMarija Pejčinović Burić
Prime Minister of Norway
In office
25 October 1996 – 17 October 1997
MonarchHarald V
Preceded byGro Harlem Brundtland
Succeeded byKjell Magne Bondevik
Leader of the Labour Party
In office
8 November 1992 – 10 November 2002
First DeputyJens Stoltenberg
Second DeputyHill-Marta Solberg
Preceded byGro Harlem Brundtland
Succeeded byJens Stoltenberg
Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
In office
1 January 2009 – 3 March 2015
Preceded byOle Danbolt Mjøs
Succeeded byKaci Kullmann Five
President of the Storting
In office
10 October 2005 – 30 September 2009
MonarchHarald V
Prime MinisterKjell Magne Bondevik
Jens Stoltenberg
Vice PresidentCarl I. Hagen
Preceded byJørgen Kosmo
Succeeded byDag Terje Andersen
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
17 March 2000 – 19 October 2001
Prime MinisterJens Stoltenberg
Preceded byKnut Vollebæk
Succeeded byJan Petersen
Member of the Norwegian Parliament
In office
1 October 1993 – 30 September 2009
DeputyVidar Brynsplass
Frank Willy Larsen
Martin Kolberg
ConstituencyBuskerud
Personal details
Born
Thorbjørn Johansen

(1950-11-05) 5 November 1950
Drammen, Buskerud, Norway
Political partyLabour
SpouseHanne Grotjord
Children2
EducationUniversity of Oslo
Signature

Thorbjørn Jagland (né Johansen; listen, 5 November 1950) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He served as the secretary general of the Council of Europe from 2009 to 2019. He served as the prime minister of Norway from 1996 to 1997, as the minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2001 and as the president of the Storting from 2005 to 2009.

Jagland studied economics at the University of Oslo at introductory level, but did not graduate. He started his political career in the Workers' Youth League, which he led from 1977 to 1981. He was party secretary from 1986 to 1992 and party leader from 1992 to 2002.

Jagland's cabinet, albeit short-lived, was marked by controversies, with two ministers being forced to withdraw following personal scandals.[1] Jagland, who was much ridiculed in the media for his quotes and statements and frequently portrayed as incompetent,[2] 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;[3] two years before, his predecessor Gro Harlem Brundtland had criticized his premiership in harsh terms and described Jagland as "stupid".[4] 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.[5] Jagland was widely perceived to have been passed over when Jens Stoltenberg formed his second cabinet in 2005.[6]

In 2009, Jagland was elected as the secretary-general of the Council of Europe.[7][8] In 2014 he was reelected for an additional five years.[9] His tenure as secretary-general has been controversial, and he has been accused of inaction against corruption[10][11] and of servility towards Vladimir Putin's Russia.[12] Jagland was a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, and left in 2020;[13] he formerly served as its chairman from 2009 to 2015.

  1. ^ Almendingen, Berit (16 February 2008). "Skandale-statsrådene". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 15 April 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2008.
  2. ^ Hegtun, Halvor (9 May 2004). "Han kom igjen, ja, han er her allerede". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 18 April 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2008.
  3. ^ "Svakeste statsminister siden krigen" [Weakest prime minister since the war]. Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (in Norwegian). 16 September 2010. Archived from the original on 21 October 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  4. ^ Goll, Svein (10 October 2008). "Gro Harlem Brundtland criticises her successor Thorbjørn Jagland". Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ "Jagland omtalte president som Bongo fra Kongo". VG (in Norwegian). 2 June 2001. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  6. ^ Kirsten Karlsen (13 October 2005). "Helt og holdent opp til Jens å velge utenriksminister - Dagbladet". Dagbladet.no. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  7. ^ "THORBJORN JAGLAND ELECTED SECRETARY GENERAL OF COUNCIL OF EUROPE". panorama.am. 30 September 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
  8. ^ "Jagland til Europarådet", Utdanning, 9 October 2009, page 9
  9. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ^ I årevis ble Thorbjørn Jagland varslet om korrupsjon i Europarådet. Kritikerne mener han ikke gjorde noen ting Archived 23 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Aftenposten
  11. ^ Ber Jagland vurdere sin stilling som Europarådets generalsekretær: Thorbjørn Jagland har styrt Europarådet svært dårlig, og han har ikke tatt tak i korrupsjonen, mener en av lederne i Europarådets parlamentarikerforsamling Archived 23 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Aftenposten
  12. ^ Anklager Jagland for å gjøre knefall for Russland. Han gir Putin en propagandaseier, hevder politikere Archived 15 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Aftenposten
  13. ^ "Jagland ferdig i Nobelkomiteen - Innenriks". Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.