Espen Barth Eide is Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway. He holds a Degree in Political Science from the University of Oslo. His first entry into public life was as Project Manager and General Secretary of the European Movement International in Norway. In 1993, Mr Eide was appointed Researcher to The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), while in 2000, he was appointed to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) as State Secretary, with responsibilities including European relations, North America and Russia, and general security policy. After two years in the ministry, he returned to NUPI to serve as leader of their Department of International Politics. He also worked as a Senior Consultant for the UN in New York, in charge of the UN “Report on Integrated Missions”. In 2005, Mr Eide was appointed State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Defence (MoD), and after five years there, he returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as State Secretary. In November 2011, Mr Eide was appointed Minister of Defence in Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s government and in September 2012, he became the Minister of Foreign Affairs.