NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to lead Munich Security Conference

Outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is to become the next chairman of the Munich Security Conference, multiple sources confirmed to dpa on Thursday, following reports by news outlets Politico and Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

There was initially no official confirmation. A spokeswoman for the Munich Security Conference (MSC) told dpa that they do not comment on personnel matters as a matter of principle.

NATO also did not comment. Stoltenberg is expected to assume the role of chairman of the MSC after the February 2025 meeting of the international security conference.

With Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, the world's largest conference on foreign and security policy will be led by a non-German. The MSC was founded in 1963.

Each February, top political and defence officials gather in southern Germany to debate international security matters.

The current chairman of the MSC is Christoph Heusgen, a former German ambassador to the United Nations between 2017 and 2021. Before this, Heusgen was the foreign policy adviser to former German chancellor Angela Merkel from 2005.

Heusgen only took over the chairmanship of the MSC from Wolfgang Ischinger in 2022. Ischinger is president of the MSC Foundation Council and founded the foundation in 2011.

RND reported that Ischinger is said to have described Stoltenberg as the "incomparably best choice" for the post.

Stoltenberg has been the top NATO official since 2014 and will be replaced by former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte on October 1.