It has been 20 years since the terrorist attacks on September 11 and since the United States began the war in Afghanistan.
At the time, Jens Stoltenberg was Prime Minister of Norway.
- I remember that we all thought it was right to act when, among other things, Norwegian and Swedish soldiers were sent there to fight terrorism, he says.
The main task was to fight international terrorism, something that was also done successfully, according to Jens Stoltenberg.
"For twenty years, we have countered that Afghanistan has been a hotbed of international terrorism and we have significantly weakened al-Qaeda," he said.
It was never intended that NATO should be in place forever, and when it ended its efforts, it was aware that it would involve risks for the Taliban to return.
But Jens Stoltenberg believes that the efforts made for women, among others, are difficult to overlook.
- It is a completely different Afghanistan today than in 2001. We must continue to support and help with other aids than the military to promote social and economic development in Afghanistan.
See the entire interview with Jens Stoltenberg in Agenda at 21.15 on SVT2