MOSCOW, 13 Feb. British Defense Minister Ben Wallace is being considered as a candidate for the post of NATO Secretary General, the Daily Mail writes.
According to journalists, the race for possible successors to Jens Stoltenberg has already begun. The Minister of Defense of the United Kingdom claims to have quite high positions in it. The article says that Wallace is very popular both domestically and within the alliance.
«When asked last year if he would be interested in replacing Stoltenberg, Wallace admitted that it would be a 'good job', but added that he «likes» his role as defense minister,» the authors of the material noted.
In addition, ex-prime ministers Boris Johnson and Theresa May can be nominated from the UK to the post of NATO Secretary General. At the same time, the journalists emphasized that France could veto any British candidate.
Also among the politicians named by the Daily Mail were Mark Rutte, the current Prime Minister of the Netherlands, as well as Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Lithuania Ingrida Simonyte and former Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.
Washington, in turn, supports the candidacy of Deputy Prime Minister of Canada Chrystia Freeland, the publication summarized.
The day before, the German dpa news agency reported that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has no plans to renew his term of office, which expires on September 30, 2023. He has been in office for almost nine years.
The last time the term of office of the Secretary General of the alliance was extended in March last year.
At the same time, the sources of the publication suggest that after leaving office, Stoltenberg has a good chance of becoming president of the World Bank. The term of office of the current head of the WB, David Malpass, ends in April 2024.