Stoltenberg: Withdrawal from Afghanistan was NATO’s biggest failure, but we made the right decision
Jens Stoltenberg, former NATO Secretary General and current Norwegian Finance Minister, described the withdrawal of American and NATO forces from Afghanistan in 2021 as “NATO’s greatest failure,” in an interview with the British newspaper “The Sunday Times,” but emphasized that this decision was strategically correct despite the bitterness and great suffering.
Stoltenberg stated in the interview, which was published on Sunday (November 8, 2025): “This is NATO’s biggest failure; but I still believe that despite the bitterness and great suffering for many Afghan people, leaving Afghanistan was the right decision.”
He added that NATO’s 20-year mission in Afghanistan showed that trying to create a free democratic society by relying on military forces was a “very difficult and ambitious” project, and NATO was unable to afford the costs necessary to fully achieve these goals.
The Norwegian Finance Minister, who was NATO Secretary General from 2014 to 2024, pointed out that a continued long-term military presence could not guarantee democratic and security goals.
