Diplomat Helga Schmid and former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg have been selected as the new co-chairs of the Munich Security Conference (MSC). The MSC announced on Monday that the Foundation Board unanimously approved their appointment. They will serve voluntarily, jointly leading the conference as “equal co-chairs.” Schmid and Stoltenberg are scheduled to assume these roles in time for the 63rd Munich Security Conference in February 2027, which they will host together.
Schmid, who has been a Vice President of the Foundation Board since 2021, and Stoltenberg have a long history of connection to the conference. Stoltenberg, who currently serves as Norway’s Finance Minister, was already slated to be the MSC Chairman starting in October 2024, a role that had been postponed due to his ministerial duties.
Wolfgang Ischinger, the current Chairman of the MSC, expressed his pleasure with the Board’s decision, stating, “I am thrilled that the Foundation Board has approved this excellent proposal for the future leadership of the Munich Security Conference.” After nearly two decades leading the organization, he looks forward to supporting it as an active member of the Foundation Board.
Schmid commented that she intends to bring her experience in European diplomacy and as an international negotiator to her work as an MSC co-chair. Stoltenberg, for his part, welcomed the appointment, as it allows him to build upon his existing position on the Munich Security Conference Foundation Board as one of the two co-chairs.
