His close collaborators were already preparing their boxes at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). They will be able to undo them. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general since 2014, is expected to remain at the helm of the Alliance for another year, at least until the Washington summit in mid-2024. Next week, the North Atlantic Council, bringing together the ambassadors of the thirty-one allies, will officially extend its mandate for a year, as mentioned Euroactiv from June 27. But a country then still blocked the renewal.
“From now on, all the allies are on board”, confirmed, Thursday, June 29, a diplomatic source at NATO. The day before, Kaja Kallas, the Estonian Prime Minister, made no secret of it to the press: “I think the new Secretary General of NATO is the former Secretary General of NATO (…). And that’s good. »
At the beginning of June, on several occasions, according to the Norwegian press, Joe Biden had asked Mr. Stoltenberg to stay. He ended up giving in. “The debates on the possible candidates revealed too many tensions. It’s easier to keep him for another year, he does the job well and is very loyal to the United States.”slips a diplomat familiar with the talks, ten days before the Vilnius summit, where the choice of a successor was initially expected.
On May 25, however, questioned by The world on a possible new extension of his mandate, the politician with ideas anchored on the left confided that he had no“other plans than leaving NATO in October. “I am absolutely convinced that the Alliance will be able to find a good successor, he insisted. And, for me, it has been a great privilege to serve this organization responsible for the safety of a billion people. » In mid-June, he had significantly changed his speech. “I’m responsible for every decision this alliance has to make, except one. And it’s about my future. It is up to the 31 allies to decide. “We must thank him for his leadership and his sacrifices”greets a French official.
The Mette Frederiksen hypothesis
If he remains, it is not for lack of candidates to succeed him. But the process is not defined in the texts of the Alliance. “Concretely, there are no rules. It is simply necessary that the 31 allies find a consensus on a candidate ”, explains Camille Grand, former deputy secretary general of the organization. And that was clearly not the case.
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