Ex-NATO boss lands new job

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will become chair of the Munich International Security Conference (MSC) next year, the Western-dominated organization has announced.

The Norwegian politician will take over from German diplomat Christoph Heusgen after the conference’s 61st gathering in February 2025, the MSC said in a press release published on Tuesday.

Stoltenberg was replaced as head of NATO last week by former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, after a decade at the helm. During that time, he oversaw a steady increase in defense spending, and the addition of four new members to the US-led bloc – Montenegro (2017), North Macedonia (2020), Finland (2023), and Sweden (2024).

A strong backer of Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, Stoltenberg has supported the idea of allowing Kiev to use Western weapons in long-rang strikes on Russian territory – despite warnings from Moscow.

“I have dedicated my entire political life to maintaining peace. It is a great honor for me to serve as Chairman of the Munich Security Conference and make a contribution to its mission ‘peace through dialogue’,” he said in the press release.

“Few international platforms are as important as the MSC to promote conflict prevention, dialogue, and international cooperation.” 

The Munich Security Conference was the forum at which Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his 2007 speech, warning against continued expansion of the US-led military bloc towards the east.

“It is obvious that NATO expansion does not have any relation with the modernization of the Alliance itself or with ensuring security in Europe,” the Russian leader said, branding it “a serious provocation.”

The speech has become widely seen as a turning point in Russia's stance on NATO, marking a more hostile relationship between the two sides, following seemingly failed attempts at peaceful dialogue. 

Moscow has stressed that one of the key goals in launching its military operation in Ukraine in 2022 was to prevent the country from joining NATO. Russia views the conflict a de facto proxy war with the Western military bloc.