The Future NATO Secretary General Must Be Able to Speak Firmly with Vladimir Putin: Anders Fogh Rasmussen

The current NATO Secretary General, Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, intends to step down this fall. The countries of the North Atlantic Alliance are now looking for candidates for a new leader. This issue was discussed by former NATO Secretary General, founder of the Copenhagen Democratic Summit, Danish Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

“The future Secretary General must meet two key requirements: be able to maintain the unity of the alliance and speak firmly with Vladimir Putin and other autocrats who threaten the alliance,” said the former Secretary General.

NATO's structure does not rule out that the leaders of member countries may ask Stoltenberg to continue his work until 2024, but he has emphasized on several occasions that he would prefer to leave.

Among the potential candidates are British Defense Minister Ben Wallace and Denmark’s female Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. The media has also mentioned female candidates such as Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Also considered as possible candidates are Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.