Former Norwegian Prime Minister Kåre Willoch dead at 93

Photo: Fredrik Hagen / NTB

Kåre Willoch, former prime minister and party leader of the Conservative Party (H), died on Monday, aged 93. “I will miss him,” Erna Solberg said.

He passed on quietly in his home in Ullern, the Conservatives stated in a press release.

“It is with great sadness that the Conservatives today received the sad news of Kåre Willoch’s death. Our thoughts go out first and foremost to Anne-Marie, the children, the grandchildren, and the rest of his closest family,” party leader Erna Solberg (H) stated in a press release.

Kåre Willoch was Prime Minister of Norway from 1981 to 1986 and the Conservative’s parliamentary leader for eleven years before that. He has also served as Norway’s Minister of Trade.

Solberg: I will miss him

Solberg says Willoch is one of the greatest politicians of the post-war period. Willoch was the Conservative Party’s party leader from 1970 to 1974 and parliamentary representative for Oslo from 1958 to 1989. After his political career, he was County Governor of Oslo and Akershus until 1998.

“He influenced the Conservatives, and he influenced Norway from the 1960s until recently. He was a prominent prime minister who was a leader in the modernization of Norwegian society. His community involvement was broad and deep and lasted a lifetime. We all have a lot to thank Kåre Willoch for. His death is a great loss for political Norway,” Solberg said.

“Kåre had razor-sharp opinions and analyses, but always in an amiable form. Strong in content, mild in form, was a rule of thumb he always followed. I will miss him,” Solberg concluded.

Støre: A prominent and wise politician

Current Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (AP) says he will remember Willoch as a prominent and wise politician.

“It is with sadness that we have received the news that Kåre Willoch is dead. Kåre Willoch left his mark on political Norway for several decades – as a parliamentary representative, minister, prime minister, and county governor, and for several decades afterward as an active public debater,” Støre wrote in a press release.

“My thoughts today go to Kåre Willoch’s family, friends, and party colleagues in the Conservative Party,” Støre said.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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1 Comment on "Former Norwegian Prime Minister Kåre Willoch dead at 93"

  1. Some years ago a conference here in Norway, Kåre had the starch to get up and ask/demand of NATO deputy secretary general … and neocon … Alexander Vershbow “What did you expect?” … the Russians to do – grabbing the Crimea and backing the East Ukraine separatists – after the overthrow of Ukraine’s legal government.

    Kåre was uncommonly straight-forward “American direct” in his questions and positions on issues, and that – he – will be direly missed in Norway.

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