Vidar Helgesen (born 21 November 1968) is a Norwegian diplomat and politician for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. He served as Minister of European Affairs and Chief of Staff to Prime Minister

Erna Solberg Erna Solberg (; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and the current Leader of the Opposition. She served as the 35th prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been Leader of the Conservative Party since May 2004. Solberg w ...

from 2013 to 2015, and

Minister of Climate and the Environment The Minister of Climate and the Environment ( no, Klima- og miljøministeren) is a Councilor of State and Chief of Norway's Ministry of the Environment. The current minister is Espen Barth Eide. The ministry is responsible for environmental iss ...

from 2015 to 2018.

Career

He served as Secretary-General of the

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) is an intergovernmental organization that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions and processes around the world, to develop sustainable, eff ...

from 2005 to 2013. He was also a State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2005.

Ministerial appointments

Helgesen was first appointed minister for European affairs, a post he concurrently held while being chief of staff to the prime minister; from 2013 to 2015. On 16 December 2015, he was appointed minister of climate and the environment, a position he held until early 2018, when he was succeeded by

Ola Elvestuen Ola Elvestuen (born 9 October 1967) is a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party who served as Minister of Climate and the Environment from 2018 to 2020. He was also the party's deputy leader from 2008 to 2020 (2008–2012 as second deputy ...

once the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

had entered government.

Minister of European Affairs

He became the first minister of European affairs on 16 October 2013, a newly created ministerial post in

Solberg's Cabinet The Solberg Cabinet was the government of the Kingdom of Norway, headed by Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg as Prime Minister from 16 October 2013 to 14 October 2021. The government was appointed by King Harald V on 16 October 2013 followin ...

following the Conservative victory in the 2013 election. A month into his tenure, he presented the government's strategy to keep Norway visible in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. Helgesen also pledged that they would fight for Norwegian interests within the EU. In October 2014, Helgesen expressed support for the EU's goal for new energy efficiency, but noted that it would succeed more if it also was free of charge. This came in response to criticism from the Liberal Party, who criticised the government for not taking enough action against reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. In December, he praised the decision to digitalise the ''

Three Wishes for Cinderella Three Wishes for Cinderella may refer to * ''Three Wishes for Cinderella'' (1973 film), Czechoslovak / East German film ** ''Three Wishes for Cinderella'' (2021 film), Norwegian remake {{disamb ...

'' film from 1973, noting that digitalising old films was important. He stated: "Digitalising this film makes it available on new media platforms. The alternative would have been that it would eventually be forgotten". In late April 2015, Helgesen expressed concerns about Hungarian prime minister

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between ...

's comments that the death penalty should be a relevant debate. Helgesen stated: "Hungary is a democracy, but it is sometimes difficult to see the democratic mindset of Orbán in his statements". He also expressed that any EU member state that goes against the union's values should expect counter reactions.

References

1968 births Living people University of Oslo alumni Norwegian diplomats Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Government ministers of Norway Norwegian state secretaries Ministers of Climate and the Environment of Norway Politicians from Bodø {{Norway-politician-1960s-stub