Tore O. Sandvik

In early October, the government announced that they wouldn't be able to hand in their planned climate goals for 2035 by January 2025 to the United Nations as originally planned. Sandvik stated that they were looking for inputs on what the new goals should be.^[14]

On 22 October, it was announced that Sandvik would be tasked with leading the negotiations regarding financing of the biodiversity framework at the 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia.^[15]

Sandvik was part of the Norwegian delegation at COP29 in Baku and led negotiations at the conference concerning emissions cuts together with his South African counterpart, Dion George.^[16][17] By the end of the conference, he expressed that the countries had reached a solution and explained that Norway would be contributing with 3000 billion NOK in annual funding until 2035. He also remarked that the 1.5 degree target could have had a better outcome.^[18]

A week after his appointment, Sandvik attended a NATO summit in Brussels where he met with US Secretary of DefensePete Hegseth and attended a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group alongside representatives of the 31 other NATO member states and 25 other countries. Sandvik further reiterated Norway's support for Ukraine.^[20]

After being criticised for not informing about the delays of a maritime army project in Ramsund in Southern Troms, Sandvik acknowledged in mid May that the government hadn't properly informed parliament about the recent delay of the project until 2026.^[21]

During a NATO defence ministers' summit in early June, Sandvik signed a defence deal with his Danish counterpart Troels Lund Poulsen, which aims to strengthen the two countries' strategic and operative cooperation when it comes to training of personnel, operations and maintenance.^[22][23]

Sandvik visited Ukraine for the first time in late June and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign a cooperation agreement which sought for Norwegian weapons manufacturer Kongsberg Gruppen to establish offices in the country. He also made a visit to a memorial of fallen soldiers at the Freedom Square.^[24]

In August, the government announced that they would be purchasing new British made BAE Systems frigates to be used by the Norwegian Navy. The move was criticised by the Red and Socialist Left parties due to Israeli made components, while Sandvik responded saying that the government would not ask for the components to be replaced and they will be bought as is. He further said that the government was purchasing the frigates and not individual components.^[25][26]

Upon revelations that the Norwegian Army had continued to deny conscription for youth of minority backgrounds from high security risk countries in September, Sandvik faced criticism from Ine Eriksen Søreide, the chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, for inaction on the matter despite previous pledges by his predecessor to tackle the issue. In response, Sandvik said that he was monitoring the situation closely and that he had asked the Army to provide him with a status update on the matter. He also emphasised the importance of a robust conscription system and supported his predecessor's testimony from January with the Intelligence Oversight Committee. Army interest groups on the hand called for the matter to be brought up in the Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs.^[27]

He announced in November that the government would expedite weapon deliveries to Ukraine by Christmas, with 11 trillion NOK of the allocated budget going to get new air defence and artillery weapons. Sandvik described the situation as "precarious" and "critical" for Ukraine, and furthermore denied that the expedite of deliveries had anything to do with the ongoing corruption scandal in the Ukrainian goveremnt. He explained that the govenremnt had planned the expedition long beforehand.^[28]

Sandvik confirmed in January 2026 that the Norwegian Army would be deploying two military personnel to Greenland, stating that it was done to "strengthen Arctic security" and "map out continued cooperation between allies".^[29]

Following a diplomatic squabble between Norway and Malaysia over the last minute cancellation of a defence agreement between the countries, Sandvik attended the Shangri-La Dialogue conference in May and met with his Malaysian counterpart Mohamed Khaled Nordin. He expressed understanding for Malaysia's reaction and emphasised the importance of continued dialogue between their countries.^[30]