When he took office on October 1, 2014, Jens Stoltenberg, Norway’s former prime minister, already knew the biggest challenge he could face: “Russia maintains its ability to destabilize Ukraine.” Months earlier, Russia had invaded the Crimean peninsula, which until then belonged to Ukraine, drawing international attention to a possible broader conflict to the east.
“The response given to Crimea, although at the time it was understood as timid, represented a turning point for Western relations with the Russian Federation and also marked a great divergence in the understanding until then that Russia was a strategic partner”, points out Ana. Isabel Xavier, professor of international relations.
For the specialist, the main person responsible for this shift was the current leader of NATO. Challenges have been added since then, from “post-Crimea” through “the Donald Trump administration” to the “Covid-19 pandemic” and most recently “Russian aggression against Ukraine”: “Soltenberg will always have a very positive and constructive and as someone who knew how to adapt NATO very well to these challenges, which have been immense over the years”.
When he leaves at the end of October, Stoltenberg leaves the alliance after nine years of leadership. António Martins da Cruz, former Portuguese ambassador to the organization between 1995 and 1999, recalls that the last year was the most significant, since “NATO went from being brain dead, as President Emmanuel Macron announced, to once again being the main instrument of security and defense of the Western world and of Europe”.
With a war raging in Europe, is it the right time to change leaders?
Martins da Cruz recalls that in 1998, when NATO had “about 35,000 soldiers in Bosnia”, it was changed to “the head of the Military Committee, a German general, who was in charge of the last analysis of the operations that were being carried out”.
Furthermore, history tells us that NATO has already changed its Secretary General several times when it comes to conflicts. Ana Isabel Xavier gives the example of the war in Afghanistan and defends that it is “quite subjective” to change leaders now. The specialist maintains that “it is the best time” for the Atlantic alliance to start a new cycle in the face of the new challenges it will face.
“Soltenberg already shows some weariness with his image, with what this decade has been like. Therefore, it is very important that there is a refreshment in the leadership of NATO, which needs to be ready for a new Russian Federation and a new strategic concept of defense, ”he adds.
Source: TSF
