[ad_1]
NATO must find a new successor to Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who will step down as head of the Central Bank of Norway, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance announced in Oslo today.
“I am grateful for the trust and look forward to the new task,” Stoltenberg told a news conference today by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance.
Stoltenberg, who served as Norway’s prime minister from 2005 to 2013, has been NATO’s secretary general since 2014. His current term will end in September and is not expected to be renewed, as few NATO leaders s stay in the post for more than five years.
During his tenure, Stoltenberg was praised for masterfully balancing the very different interests of the 30 NATO member countries. He is credited with moderating a dispute over defense spending by European member states, which escalated during Donald Trump’s presidency. Trump at one point even threatened to withdraw from the alliance, which could have led to the de facto collapse of the transatlantic alliance.
However, Stoltenberg has been repeatedly criticized for the way he handled the crisis in Ukraine, particularly in the capitals of Western and Southern Europe, where he has been accused behind closed doors of alarming statements and the constant imagination of worst-case scenarios. According to his critics, Stoltenberg’s approach has risked a further escalation of the situation.
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link
