Norway's PM calls for U.S. leadership in "difficult" issues

Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg on Wednesday urged the United States to take leadership on many "difficult" international issues as she spoke on Donald Trump's U.S. presidential election victory.

"The international community is facing a number of challenges, and there are many difficult issues that can only be resolved by working together. Here, we need the leadership of the United States," Solberg told a press conference.

The Norwegian prime minister noted that cooperation with Europe and the United States was the "main pillar" of the Nordic country's foreign and security policy.

Solberg said it was "in the United States' interest" to hold up the good cooperation with NATO, although some of Trump's comments on U.S. commitment to the alliance had made some allies worry.

She said Norway, a founding member of the U.S.-led NATO alliance, had always given priority to its cooperation with the United States "through changing times and different administrations."

"The United States is our closest ally and our cooperation is based on shared values and interests," Solberg said. "We will seek to cooperate constructively with Donald Trump and with his administration once it is in place."

"The Norwegian government's primary aim is to safeguard Norway's interests. The United States is important for the Norwegian economy, for our jobs, and for the security of our country," she said.

Trump, the U.S. Republican presidential candidate, defeated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in a close race for the White House on Tuesday and is set to succeed Barack Obama as the next U.S. president. Endit