Jens Stoltenberg will not seek a further extension of his term as NATO Secretary General
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will complete his term in October as scheduled, an alliance spokeswoman told Reuters after a newspaper reported that a new extension of Stoltenberg's term was being prepared.
"Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's term has been extended three times, with him serving for almost nine years in total. The secretary general's term ends in October this year and he does not intend to seek a further extension," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Saturday evening.
Previously, Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported that Stoltenberg's mandate would again be extended as the Alliance seeks to preserve stability during the war in Ukraine.
Jens Stoltenberg - an economist by profession and former leader of Norway's Labour Party - has been granted an extension to his NATO leadership until 2022. He served as prime minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2013 before taking over as NATO secretary-general the following year. He has also held the posts of finance and energy minister.
A decision on who will succeed Jens Stoltenberg has not been made, although leading candidates for the post include Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and British Defence Minister Ben Wallace, reports Welt.
