NATO’s Jens Stoltenberg will be new Munich Security Conference chief

NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg will be the new chairman of the Munich Security Conference, taking up the role after the February 2025 edition of the elite defense conclave, a person familiar with the matter told POLITICO exclusively.

Christoph Heusgen, who only assumed the top role in 2022, will step down as chairman, while former longtime chairman Wolfgang Ischinger will remain president of the Foundation Council of the Munich Security Conference Foundation.

Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, has been secretary-general of NATO since 2014. He will be replaced at the transatlantic military alliance by former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on October 1.

This story is being updated.