Thorvald Stoltenberg

Thorvald Stoltenberg (born July 8, 1931) is a Norwegian politician. He served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Commerce and Shipping in two Labour governments before being appointed Norwegian Ambassador to the UN in 1989. In 1990 he became the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and was in 1993 appointed Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for the former Yugoslavia and UN Co-Chairman of the Steering Committee of the International Conference on the former Yugoslavia. He is now (2003) Chairman of the Board of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistence (International IDEA). He is the father of politician Jens Stoltenberg.