By Canadian Press

Happy with a safe pair of hands as the war drags on, NATO again extends Stoltenberg’s mandate

Jul 4, 2023 | 2:30 AM

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will stay in office for another year, the 31-nation military alliance decided on Tuesday.

Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, has been NATO’s top civilian official since 2014. His term had been due to expire last year but was extended then to keep a steady hand at the helm after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts had been due to name a successor when they meet in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12. But the world’s biggest security organization makes decisions by consensus, and no agreement could be found on a new candidate.

Most NATO countries had been keen to name a woman to the top post, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was thought to be a favorite after a meeting with Biden last month.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, ruled out her candidacy. Other possible names floated, but never publicly named as in the running, were Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.

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It’s the fourth time Stoltenberg has had his mandate extended. He’s the second-longest serving NATO secretary-general after former Dutch foreign minister Joseph Luns, who spent almost 13 years at the helm from 1971.

Quizzed repeatedly in recent weeks over whether he would agree to have his term renewed, Stoltenberg said that he was not seeking to stay and had no plans other than to continue to carry out his duties and wrap his time at the helm in September.

The Associated Press