The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg, said this Thursday that he “has no intention” of renewing his mandate at the head of the Atlantic Alliance after nine years in office. .
“I do not intend to apply for an extension [do mandato como secretário-geral da NATO]”said Jens Stoltenberg on arrival at the meeting of the defense ministers of the Atlantic Alliance, which will take place this Thursday and Friday in Brussels.
The Norwegian official referred this decision to NATO members: “My successor is a matter for the 31 Allies to decide. I am responsible for all decisions of the organization except one, so my future is decided by the Allies”.
Jens Stoltenberg responded to the question whether he would be willing to remain at the head of NATO for another six or twelve months if the Allies asked, as his term of office expires at the end of September next year.
At a time when the Atlantic Alliance is discussing a possible extension or a new face at the head of NATO, the issue will be discussed by the Allies at the Leaders’ Summit in July in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.
Jens Stoltenberg has been in office since October 2014 and at the moment he is already in an extension period, as the Allies, in light of the war in Ukraine provoked by the Russian invasion, extended his mandate, which should have expired in October 2022 .
In an interview with Lusa released a week ago, Portugal’s ambassador to NATO admitted it was “desirable” that the current Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, be succeeded by a woman, in a decision that could be taken at the top of July in Vilnius. .
“It is desirable that she become general secretary and it is also one of the goals that currently exist. [mas] it is not a condition sine qua non [obrigatória]”said Pedro Costa Pereira in an interview with the Lusa agency in Brussels ahead of the summit on 11 and 12 July.
Further, “it is also not a sine qua non, but it would be logical to have a secretary-general who comes more from the south after secretary-generals who come from the north”he added, talking to Lusa at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
However, “here in the Atlantic Alliance, the issue of the north and the south is always a relative one and, as the current Secretary-General says [Jens Stoltenberg]what is Norwegian, Denmark is already your south, and what is south, you must consider as something relative”noted Pedro Costa Pereira.
Jens Stoltenberg is expected to end his second term at NATO’s head in September, following an extension last March, and a new name for his succession should be announced at the Atlantic Alliance summit in Vilnius in July.
Sources connected to the process told Lusa that one of the strongest names on the table for such an appointment is that of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who heads a centre-left government and may receive support from several allies, but is nothing already decided. This would be the first woman to head the Atlantic Alliance.
The same sources noted that a possible new extension of Jens Stoltenberg’s mandate is also not ruled out.
“It is possible that a name will emerge for the succession of the Secretary-General, but it is not even guaranteed that there will be a decision or that there will be no decision to extend the mandate,” not least because this ” happened in the past”said Pedro Costa Pereira to Lusa.
Source: DN
