Ine Eriksen Søreide

After Jan Tore Sanner announced he was stepping down as deputy leader, Søreide was mentioned as a possible candidate to succeed him, alongside Henrik Asheim and Nikolai Astrup. However, she announced on 14 February 2022 that she wouldn't be seeking the deputy leadership.

Following the Solberg Cabinet's defeat in the 2021 election, Søreide became the chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, a position she previously held from 2009 to 2013.

In January 2021, following the Trump Administration's decision to list Cuba as a country that promotes terrorism, Søreide expressed criticism of the move and called it "regrettable". She also cited the peace negotiations in Colombia with the nation, and that "the American administration now made sure to put a toll on Cubans with the negotiators being unable to leave Cuba".

Søreide condemned the Myanmar coup d'état in February 2021, and called on the military to release the country's democratically elected leaders. She also stressed that the two sides needed to find a peaceful solution with respect and dialog for democratic principals and governance.

Søreide met with U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in May 2021 in Reykjavik, Iceland, to discuss the situation at the Gaza strip. Following the meeting, Søreide explained that Blinken had stressed the expectation of a deescalation and path to a cease fire. Søreide described it as "the only thing to prevent this from escalating out of control".

Following the passing of an anti-LGBT law in Hungary in June 2021, Søreide criticised the law, stating: "the law is one of the worst examples we have seen in recent times, and an example of the country continuing on the path away from the rule of law and democracy. Here, a prime minister and a government present a law that connects homosexuality with pedophilia, it is completely insane". She further expressed concern that multiple countries were heading in the wrong direction when it comes to LGBT rights, adding: "same-sex love is punishable in 69 countries, it also creates a climate of hatred and prejudice against gay and queer people".

After the Taliban started to take back control of cities in Afghanistan, Søreide announced at a press conference in August 2021 that Norway would be temporarily closing its embassy in Kabul. She emphasised concerns over the growing violence in the country as a result of Taliban's increased activity.

A week before the 2021 election, Søreide expressed concerns about the country's relation with NATO and the EU should the Red Party gain influence to affect a possible red-green government. Labour leader Jonas Gahr Støre rebuffed her concerns and specified that: "for the Labour Party to head a government, EEA and NATO relations and responsible economic control has to be the basis".

In January 2020, the news came that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government decided in the autumn of 2019 to bring home a Norwegian, a presumably terminally ill boy. The case was controversial because both the sister and the mother were accused of terrorism and was also brought back to Norway. This was an alternative no one wanted, the government had said they would bring the Norwegian children home if requested, but in this case it was not possible. In the end, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the majority of the government made the decision to bring them home, which triggered an assessment in the Progress Party's national board about the party's government participation, where they concluded to withdraw from the government. Søreide stated that the decision was made on humanitarian grounds and knowledge that was the basis for an assumed sick child.

In January 2019, Søreide expressed support for the Norwegian participation in the Libya conflict, and called the right call to make, but was critical to the lack of planning of the participation's aftermath. She also stated that: "enough wasn't done to stabilise Libya after the military participation".

While Erna Solberg was on a summit to the White House to meet with U. S. President Donald Trump in January 2018, Søreide met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan. She also met with then U. S Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, where she expressed worries about the U.S cutting aid to Palestinians. To the media, she expressed that the situation in the area was tense.

Following the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury on 4 March 2018, Søreide supported the condemnation issued by the leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. She described the incident as shocking, dan added: "Any use of such nerve agent is prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and a violation of international law. This is completely unacceptable. Those behind it must be held accountable for this wrongdoing".

In May 2018, Søreide expressed concerns about instability in the Middle East following the United States's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, saying in a statement to Aftenposten: "We are also concerned that this could lead to increased instability in an already troubled region, and that the consequences of the decision could have an impact on the international community's ability to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons".

In February 2017, ahead of the NATO summit in May, Søreide expressed that it wasn't realistic to reduce two percent of BNP on defence spending in the 20 year period given. This goal was never reached during her tenure, though the defence spending did increase year by year.

Following the 2017 election, Søreide was appointed minister of foreign affairs, succeeding Børge Brende, who had been appointed president of the World Economic Forum. She was also the first woman to be appointed to the position.

In an interview in connection with the Crimean crisis in 2014, Søreide called for higher armaments efforts from all European NATO states.

After the election victory following the 2013 election, Søreide was appointed minister of defence in the Solberg cabinet.

In the summer of 2013, while Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen was still Minister of Defence, the Storting decided to introduce gender-neutral conscription in the Norwegian Armed Forces, and it was introduced in 2015 under Søreide's leadership.

She was also elected a Deputy Member of the Storting for Oslo in 1997, and was re-elected in 2001. Following Metropol's closure Eriksen Søreide joined Grette Law Firm as a trainee. She was elected to Parliament in the 2001 election, and was re-elected in 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021.

Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide (born 2 May 1976) is a Norwegian politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2021, the first woman to hold the position. Previously, she was the Minister of Defence from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, she was elected in 2005 as a member of the Storting for Oslo. Søreide was appointed Norway's Foreign Minister on 20 October 2017. She succeeded Børge Brende.

Born in Lørenskog in 1976, Søreide studied law at the University of Tromsø, while at university she joined the Conservative Party and got involved in local politics. In 2000, she became a member of the Conservative Party Central Executive Committee and Chairman of the Norwegian Young Conservatives. Eriksen Søreide started work as a producer at Metropol TV.