News comment: Death of former High Commissioner Thorvald Stoltenberg

Former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Thorvald Stoltenberg passed away in Oslo on Friday. 

“Thorvald Stoltenberg was a peacemaker, a humanitarian and an internationalist,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. “During his illustrious career as a statesman and diplomat he made an outstanding contribution to peace.”

In 1990 Stoltenberg became UN High Commissioner for Refugees. At UNHCR, he oversaw several ongoing repatriation operations, particularly in Central America. He resigned in November 1990 to return to his previous position as Norwegian foreign minister. In May 1993, at the height of the Bosnian war, he returned to the United Nations as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the Former Yugoslavia.

Stoltenberg was the father of Nato Secretary General and former prime minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg.