• May 20, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Steve Daines today spoke with Michael Kavoukjian, nominee to be Ambassador to Norway, and Eric Wendt, nominee to be Ambassador to Albania, in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing.

Watch the full exchange HERE.

Daines and Kavoukjian discussed Norway's posturing toward Russia:

Daines: I am struck by how highly qualified this panel is today. Thank you for stepping back into the arena to serve our country in these very important capacities. I want to start with my Norwegian ski jumper, Mr. Kavoukjian. We share Norwegian heritage thanks to our mothers. Your mother, as well as my mother, was an Eriksson. As you know, Norway was one of the original members of NATO. It's long shared a contentious border with Russia and has a very clear-eyed vision of the threats it poses. Norway has been a most important partner for the United States. How would you as ambassador prioritize Norway and Europe's posturing towards Russia?

Kavoukjian: Senator, and I agree with everything you said. I actually have given a lot of thought as to how I would signal my priorities if I were confirmed. We haven't had an ambassador there for a while, so I think it's important that the next ambassador hit the ground running. On landing in Oslo, the first thing I would do is present my credentials to the king, which would be a great honor, one of the great honors of my life, and then proceed to give my introductory talk to the embassy staff. I would then plan to immediately get on a plane and fly to Kirkenes on the Russian border with top-level Norwegian military and intelligence officials to hold meetings with them and local officials about the Russian and Chinese activities on the border and the threats that they're perceiving there as well as in the Greater Arctic.

Daines and Wendt discussed shared interests between the U.S. and Albania:

Daines: You're not only tall, but you were 30 years as a Green Beret. So, I think in the Tall Man Caucus here, Senator Shaheen, he certainly has been sending the right guy over there to stand tall for America in Albania. You've got an incredible amount of experience leading soldiers, working with embassies around the world, including direct experience with the Albanian military. How do you believe this experience would enable you to have conversations to advance our interest in Albania?

Wendt: When I arrive at an organization that I'm going to lead, what I've done both, again, as a U.S. security coordinator in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and then also taking command of all of NATO's special operations troopers, that the first thing I like to do is to listen …The second line of that assessment, as I mentioned in open remarks, is making America stronger in ways that are mutually beneficial in making Albania stronger also.

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