Exclusive Interview: Ambassador of Norway, Anniken Krutnes

Food Diplomacy, Ukraine & Gaza

I recently sat down with the Ambassador of Norway, Anniken Krutnes, in Washington at the Embassy of Norway residence to talk all things food and diplomacy in America and Norway. We start with the special friendship of President Roosevelt and Crown Princess Martha during WWII.

PBS Series Atlantic Crossing

We touch on food, diplomacy, and the mission of the embassy and staff here in Washington. A critical ally of the United States and NATO partner, the war in Ukraine and food security affected the wheat fields supplying food for Europe and Africa. Our conversation touches on Gaza and the tragic death of World Central Kitchen staff providing food aid to the Palestinians. It's an engaging and thoughtful discussion that I’m sure you will enjoy. During the interview, we learn sadly that her time here in Washington is coming to a close; she shares some fun and beautiful insights into her time here in America.

Read the full transcript of the interview below, or listen to it in podcast form here.

James Bell: It is an honor and a privilege to be with the ambassador of Norway this morning on a beautiful summer day, right across from the vice president's residence here at the historic Norwegian embassy.

We're in the residence of the embassy and it's just a beautiful morning. We're sitting in the dining room with the ambassador. Good morning. Good morning. How are you? Thank you for being here today.

Ambassador Krutnes: It's my pleasure.

James Bell: So America and Norway have an amazing relationship. And that goes back for decades.

Let's talk about the wonderful story and the relationship between the Queen of Norway. and President Franklin Roosevelt during World War II.

Ambassador Krutnes: Yes, I'll be happy to do that. Let me, let me just first say that our history actually next year we celebrate 200 years since the arrival of the first Norwegians to the U.S. During the Second World War the Norwegian Crown Princess, Mette, came here to Washington, D. C. She came with her three children, Ragnhild, Astrid, and Harald. And Harald, today, is, is our king.

And they came here on the invitation of President Roosevelt. He had met them earlier, and, and he He liked the Crown Princes, and he invited her to stay with him at the White House, which they did, the family, until she found a place in Bethesda. And they were very close, they were close friends.

There has been a TV how about this called The Atlantic Crossing. It's a really good show. It's like The Crown, it's, it's fiction based on facts so not all of it is, is precise. But it tells about a wonderful friendship and, and I did some fact checking myself and, and fact is that she saw him in the White House 248 times during those four years.

And then they met also outside the White House. And there's a statue of her outside this residence where we are sitting. If we peek out the window now we can see it. And that's of course to give her some of the credit she deserves. She was, she was an asset, I would say, for Norway during, during the war because of her very, very close relationship.

James Bell: Now, at that time, was Norway being occupied by Germany?

Ambassador Krutnes: Yes, we were. We were occupied by Nazi Germany and she was a refugee. Wow. While her husband, the Crown Prince was in London with the King, the government in exile there. And in 1942 the U.S. gave a warship to Norway. It was given at the Naval Yard here in Washington, D.C. in September 1942. And, and Roosevelt gave a speech, the “Look to Norway” speech. Rumor has it that the date had to be changed because he wanted Martha to be there. And, and he said, “If you can't come, Martha, I will give the ship to the Belgians instead.”

James Bell: Now I've heard all about these lunches and dinners and picnics. Tell us…

Ambassador Krutnes: Oh, yes.

James Bell: And drinks.

Ambassador Krutnes: Yeah. No. So, and I think that's, that's typical.

James Bell: Norwegians don't drink.

Ambassador Krutnes: No. Well, tea at least. Yes. I think every time they met there was food or, or drink involved. And, and that is, that is what we do as well. When I have visitors here, I always serve them something.

But food and drink is an important part of being together, it always is. And we set a pride in this embassy that everyone who comes here gets something to eat and something to drink. And that means somewhere around 5,000 to 6,000 people every year.

James Bell: You know, I was, I was here last at, your big event, Arctic Cool. And it happened to be a little chilly that day, if you remember. But I was astounded by, A, the size of the crowd, and Chef Chris, the chef here at the embassy, cooked everything or unless it was sushi. But there was, I think it was upwards of seven, six or 700 people that were here at the embassy for that party.

Ambassador Krutnes: Yeah. So yeah, you're completely right. We were, I think we were even, even more. And he, the chef, had made a stew, a reindeer stew, and you know, if you want to feed a lot of people in a simple way, that's what you do. You cook a soup or a stew or something that you can just scope out to everyone, like you are.

James Bell: I had it, it was terrific.

Ambassador Krutnes: And then he had also done some seafood stuff, like you say, sushi and things. Which was more, which wouldn't have been enough to, to, to feed the masses, you know? So you have to think of everything. But it was so beautiful. And stay local. and then you have to make sure people lots of drinks, lots of fun. We had a live band and we were dancing and we had a good time.

James Bell: One thing that was very obvious was the presence of your NATO partners and their military attaches. Tell me the importance of, of NATO in your mission here, as it relates to what's going on in Ukraine. Ukraine is. As they say, the breadbasket of Europe and partly of Africa as well.

Ambassador Krutnes: Absolutely.

James Bell: And the wheat being, the wheat being involved in that conflict is a very serious consequence of that war.

Ambassador Krutnes: Yeah. So you were right to observe that we have a lot of people in uniform here. We do. And also at the embassy we have, we have a few people in uniform because we have a defense attaché here and his office.

And that is, of course, because our military cooperation with the U. S. is important. We always say that the U. S. is our most important ally. And that goes, actually, back, back to the war, and, and what Churchill and, and Cronpress's method achieved, and, and the lend lease and the, the help we got from the Americans during the war, and then the Marshall Plan after the war.

So we have a very close relationship. And Norway was funding partner of NATO together with 1949. And we are happy to see Sweden and Finland join now. But as we always say we are the ones who have during the Cold War and Norway was the only NATO country that had a border to, to the Soviet Union.

And of course, today we have the border with Russia. And our job is to keep an eye on that border and see what what goes on on the Russian side of the border. And because of that closeness to Russia, we are, of course, also extremely worried about the situation in Ukraine. And you pointed to one, one consequence, of course, one aspect of that conflict.

And that is the grain that we talked about. Basket of, of Europe, and as you said, also of Africa we, we saw in the beginning of the war how the Russians attacked food storage places, how, how how they used what I would say like methods from, from the 30s when Stalin starved the people, and starving people is an aspect of war that we thought we would not see again, and it is extremely serious.

James Bell: This is One of the terrible, terrible consequences of politics and food is food being used as a weapon.

Ambassador Krutnes: Yes. Yes, it's terrible. Food is being used as a weapon. The conflict, I mean Russia's aggression on Ukraine is completely senseless, and it is worrying because we weren't expecting to see a war again in Europe.

James Bell: So the grain for now, do you think it's fairly secure?

Ambassador Krutnes: We hope so.

James Bell: It's being shipped through the Black Sea?

Ambassador Krutnes: Absolutely, yeah.

James Bell: It's being loaded up where in Turkey or?

Ambassador Krutnes: So yes, we will hope that that that deal will continue so that we, they are able. It's important for the Ukrainian economy, of course, as well.

James Bell: You have another amazing Industry in Norway and that's your own food security with fishing.

Ambassador Krutnes: Oh, yes!

James Bell: Famous norwegian salmon which I had for dinner last night.

Ambassador Krutnes: Yes. Oh you did?

James Bell: They now sell it at Whole Foods!

Ambassador Krutnes: Yeah, they do sell it at Whole Food. Yes, we provide. I mean we have so much wild fish and then we have the farm fish and seafood and we are five million people or five five and a half million people and we produce every day 20 million portions of seafood. So we have to export some of it. We can't eat salmon for breakfast and dinner.

James Bell: Well, of course not. Because you like oatmeal for breakfast.

Ambassador Krutnes: I personally, I do. Yes.

James Bell: The most serious question that I have for you today, what's your favorite type of oatmeal?

Ambassador Krutnes: The classic one, the original, which has no sugar or flavor or salt.

James Bell: Any toppings?

Ambassador Krutnes: Oh, yeah. Toppings.

James Bell: Please tell us. Is this a state secret?

Ambassador Krutnes: I top it with raspberries. That's my favorite. Or blueberries. And if I really feel I deserve something, I top it with M&Ms.

James Bell: Oh, my goodness! That is breaking news! You've heard it here first. The ambassador of Norway, M&Ms and oatmeal.

Ambassador Krutnes: Yep.

James Bell: Incredible.

Ambassador Krutnes: Goes very well with the coffee. Yes.

James Bell: One subject. That's a bit serious or that is extremely serious is the conflict in Gaza. And I bring that up as it relates to the unfortunate death of seven members of World Central Kitchen that were killed about a month and a half ago. Please tell me your views of that.

That is food aid. That is politics. That's war that comes home right here in Washington to us because World Central Kitchen is based here in Washington.

Ambassador Krutnes: Yeah. And Jose Andres does such a fantastic job. Yes. And, and it should absolutely never happen that the humanitarian aid is attacked, is killed. That is horrendous.

The, the entire situation is horrendous. I mean, the, the Hamas attack in October on innocent civilian Israelis. I don't have a word for it. It was absolutely horrendous, brutal, violent. But then we also have seen that, that the war in Gaza, that, that Israel is fighting, is costing a lot of civilian lives too many civilian lives and, and for the population that has to, to flee and, and are constant refugees from one camp to another.

And, and we've seen that even if they are leaving their places and trying to find safe places that there are. A lot of civilian losses and then including also the losses of humanitarian aid such as the seven collaborators of, of Jose Andres Kitchen. And again we never thought we would see this happen.

We never thought we would see such a thing. tragic and brutal war. There are negotiations right now on a ceasefire. I hope they will succeed. I know the U.S. government is working very hard on a ceasefire and on, we're having the rest of the, the hostages released. And we can only hope that these negotiations will lead to, to a cease of all the violent actions.

James Bell: So, Unfortunately, for me, and for many of us here in Washington, your term as ambassador is coming to an end in August.

Ambassador Krutnes: It is.

James Bell: What are your favorite things about being an ambassador in Washington?

Ambassador Krutnes: I like Washington DC.

It's a very green city. I came here during the pandemic and it was even greener because there was no traffic, you know, everything. And I was like, this is a quiet city. And now it's back to life. It's a wonderful city because it's not too big. I used to be ambassador in the Netherlands, in The Hague, because Amsterdam is not the capital as people tend to believe.

And every time I went to Amsterdam and came back to The Hague, I was kind of relieved, could breathe again, because Amsterdam is so hectic. And I have the same feeling here when I have to go to New York. I'm like, oh, I'm in New York, it's so hectic, it's so noisy, it's so dirty. I just long to go back to D.C. where there are parks and you can stroll along the streets, you can bike where you want to bike. So I really love that it's a relatively quiet city. I bike a lot. A lot and I think the city has changed over just the few last years, it's much easier to bike, you have bike lanes in the city, you have to know the streets because they're often one way but there's a real nice grid of bike lanes in the city, so I often bike to meetings.

So I will actually miss outdoor life here in DC and then of course the people. I mean, where do you find such, so many interesting people who can talk about any subject. It's not all about politics. I mean, there are so many people here who have interests in, in art and culture and literature and not least in food.

James Bell: Luckily, I’ve been a guest here for several different dinners and it's always exciting to come and heartwarming once I get here because you're there with a hug or a handshake. And to meet the people that come to the embassy, that's always been incredibly interesting to me as well.

Embassies in different different countries sort of evoke a different sort of karma depending on who they are. They each have their own personality, and coming to this embassy, the Embassy of Norway, it's always just a generous, warm feeling, almost relaxed.

Ambassador Krutnes: Mm hmm.

James Bell: One of my best memories, or funniest memories, two years ago when I was here for Arctic Cool, I was looking for you or Chris.

There were a lot of people around, and I happened, there was a, there was a lady, that was dressed up in a suit and she was here in the dining room and I turned to her and I said, Oh, by the way, do you work here? And she said, well, sort of, I'm their former prime minister. I said, well, thank you very much. And that was the end of that conversation.

And she got a kick out of it, but she was a pretty stern lady too. So I just made my leave.

Ambassador Krutnes: I try to make people feel relaxed here. I know some of the people in Washington go in and out of all the embassies all the time and they don't make a big deal out of it. For others going to an embassy is a big deal and you have to balance that. You do want to give them that sensational with being a big deal because that's what they expect and that's what they want and they want to have a nice memory. But at the same time, you have to make them comfortable. So that relaxed but still formal place that that's what we are.

James Bell: I think you strike a really wonderful balance.

And I have to mention the recent, win. The Emmy win that we all received for our James Bell Kitchen Table episode of Norway. So congratulations to you and Chef Chris. Please tell me about your wonderful chef, our Chef Chris. He's not your chef. But he's the chef here at the embassy.

Ambassador Krutnes, Chef Chris and I pose with the Emmy we won for our web series James Bell Kitchen Table.

Ambassador Krutnes: Well, he is, but, yes, he's leaving too.

James Bell: I know. We're very sad about it.

Ambassador Krutnes: We are. I'm just so happy he stayed while I was here. So, Chef Chris is a wonderful young Norwegian who has been here now for five years. And he can do anything. But he's, he's very creative. And he does not compromise with the quality on his food. He sets in pride in, in everybody being happy with the food I get.

And, and he's a very caring person. And I think you will find that many chefs are very caring.They want to please you. They want you to have a good time.

James Bell: One of my favorite questions that I asked Chef Chris during our interview on our film was “if you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?”

Ambassador Krutnes: Yeah.

James Bell: And Chris's answer was amazing. He would feed people. He would take all that money, buy food, make it into a big pot. And feed people and that is the quality and the substance of who he is as a person. I just love that.

Ambassador Krutnes: Yeah, it is. No, he's, he's very caring he is. And then he is an extremely good chef.

He cooks well. I mean, and of course, being from, from Northern part of Norway, he knows how to prepare fish. He does that very well. But he also makes the best desserts, and he does not approve of my oatmeal with M&Ms.

James Bell: M&Ms and oatmeal? No?

Ambassador Krutnes: I do that myself.

James Bell: Well, Ambassador, thank you for joining us today on the American Table.

Ambassador Krutnes: Thank you so much.