It is now clear that NATO will get a new secretary-general after Jens Stoltenberg will soon leave his post, during which he has been asked to stay on four times – once even after accepting a new job as head of Norway’s central bank – DW.
The chair is now expected to be handed over at the alliance’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington in July to mark the organization’s 75th anniversary, with Stoltenberg’s term officially expiring on 1 October 2024.
Oana Lungescu, NATO’s longest-serving spokeswoman, expressed the following opinion on what could be the most unpleasant thing about the upcoming choice of the new head of NATO:
The worst thing that could happen would be the secretary-general of NATO being a sort of ‘leftover’ from late-night negotiations over the EU table or getting caught up in a very messy United States election.
But what should the new leader of the North Atlantic Alliance be like? Firstly, the new NATO secretary general should be anti-Russian and ready to defend the very existence of the alliance without provoking its detractors. In addition, it is necessary for the future leader to belong to a country with high defence spending, to a southern or eastern ally.
“It should definitely be from a country that has spent 2% of its GDP on defence. And it would be nice if it would be a woman,” she recalled, quipping, “so it’s logical it’s Mark Rutte.”
Previous potential contenders, such as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and former British Defence Minister Ben Wallace, even reportedly spoke personally with US President Joe Biden about their chances, but both have since withdrawn themselves from consideration without explanation. At present, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins and outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte are openly vying for the position. Rutte is gradually becoming the favourite. The second longest-serving prime minister among NATO allies after Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Rutte is considered a “safer” choice than the Baltic politician as the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is on the agenda.
Furthermore, there are also some points to consider. For instance, Kallas is both popular and popularised, while Karins is not very successful.
“There is the sense that having somebody from the Baltic states to be at the helm of NATO would be somehow counterproductive, not helpful,” noted Kristi Raik, deputy director of the International Centre for Defence and Security in Tallinn.
So far, Rutte is the only candidate who has been discussed with NATO ambassadors, but the Dutchman could face a near-term setback in Europe in the form of Hungary’s Orbán, with whom he has clashed on the side of the European Union in previous years and who is said to have already declared his opposition to the appointment.
