Emotional scenes as Stoltenberg succeeds Heusgen at MSC

DPA

Sun, February 16, 2025 at 2:33 PM UTC

1 min read

(L-R)Jens Stoltenberg, incoming head of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, former head, and Christoph Heusgen, current head, stand on the podium at the end of the 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC) at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof. Sven Hoppe/dpa

Veteran German diplomat Christoph Heusgen received an emotional send-off as head of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) as this year's event drew to a close on Sunday.

Heusgen, 69, a long-term advisor to former chancellor Angela Merkel, showed visible emotion as he handed over to former NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg in the Bayerischer Hof hotel to applause from the participants.

Stoltenberg said Heusgen had made the key international conference stronger, broader and better over his three years in the position.

After serving for the next six months as finance minister in Norway's transitional government, Stoltenberg will take over full-time organization of the MSC ahead of the next conference in February 2026.