American press: European countries did not want to see a British representative as the new NATO Secretary General
As current NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's term expires, the West is debating who will replace him at the head of the North Atlantic alliance. The American edition of The New York Times writes about the nuances of choosing candidates.
According to the American press, the European countries did not want to see British Defense Minister Ben Wallace as the new NATO Secretary General. This information was announced to the publication by one of the high-ranking representatives of the alliance.
Previously, current British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace was considered one of the leading candidates for the post of new NATO Secretary General, along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. In addition, US President Joe Biden said that NATO could be headed by a British representative.
However, according to a source in the American press, France and a number of other influential European states insist that a person representing one of the EU countries become the new secretary general of the alliance. Since the UK is not part of the European Union, Ben Wallace's candidacy is automatically excluded.
It is unlikely that a representative of Poland or the Baltic states will also be able to lead NATO, since these states are associated with an overly anti-Russian position and more moderate Western countries will not want to escalate relations with Russia further. Jens Stoltenberg, we recall, should leave his post by the end of September 2023, and his powers expired last year, but then the NATO countries extended the mandate of the Secretary General due to the Ukrainian events.
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