Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Norwegian or Utenriksdepartementet; or Utanriksdepartementet; UD) is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway. It was established on June 7, 1905, the same day the Parliament of Norway (Storting) decided to dissolve the personal union with Sweden. The ministry is headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs, currently Anniken Huitfeldt, who is a minister in the Støre cabinet that has governed since 14 October 2021. The ministry also holds a position of Minister of International Development. This position was established by the second Willoch cabinet in 1983, and existed until October 2013 when it was abolished by the Solberg cabinet and the foreign minister became the sole head of the ministry. The position was restored on January 17, 2018, when the Liberal party joined the Solberg government. The current Minister of International Development is Anne Beathe Tvinnereim from the Centre Party. History The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established on the same day that Norway declared the dissolution of the union with Sweden: June 7, 1905. Although diplomats could not present credentials to foreign governments until the Swedish king formally renounced his right to the Norwegian throne, a number of unofficial representatives worked on the provisional government's behalf until the first Norwegian ambassador, Hjalmar Christian Hauge, sought accreditation by the United States Secretary of State Elihu Root on November 6, 1905.