Probable renewal of Stoltenberg at NATO for lack of consensus on a successor

June 15, 2023

The Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg is in the process of being extended for one year in his function of secretary general of NATO for lack of consensus on a successor, announced Thursday several leaders of the Alliance.

“NATO cannot be without a secretary general. I am for an extension if we cannot find an agreement on a candidate for the succession”, declared German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on his arrival for a meeting with his counterparts in Brussels.

“We are going towards a renewal”, assured a European diplomat on condition of anonymity. “It will be for a year, until the Washington summit” scheduled for July 9 to 11, 2024, he said.

“Nothing has been decided yet, but a renewal is very likely,” confirmed another diplomat.

Shortlisted for the post, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Thursday that she was not a candidate and supported a reappointment of Jens Stoltenberg, a NATO official said.

Jens Stoltenberg reaffirmed on Thursday that he had no intention of asking for an extension of his term but said that his future would be decided by the 31 members of the Alliance.

Appointed on October 1, 2014 for a 4-year term, the Norwegian has already served two full terms and was extended in office until September 30, 2023.

The allies are looking for a successor to him but are unable to find a consensus on the potential candidates, several diplomats have confided.

Besides Mette Frederiksen, the names of Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and British Defense Minister Ben Wallace are regularly mentioned.

Jens Stoltenberg declined to comment on his successor. “This is a matter to be decided by the 31 allies,” he said ahead of the ministerial meeting.

“I am responsible for all the decisions that this alliance has to make, except for one, the one concerning my future,” he insisted.

The United States has the last word but the post of Secretary General of NATO goes to a European.

Jens Stoltenberg’s successor must have, like him, served as head of government. The 22 EU member countries of NATO want the post to go to one of their own and want to appoint a woman, which would be a first in the history of the Alliance.

“Nothing is decided”, insist the European diplomats of the Alliance. The Vilnius summit, in a month, on July 11 and 12, should be decisive.

Jens Stoltenberg’s predecessor, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, had been nominated for the post three weeks before the summit that confirmed his appointment.