NATO | There is an embarrassing blockage in NATO’s leadership, the influence of which is now also expanding to the EU

Military alliance NATO was expected to choose a new secretary general even before last summer’s summit in Vilnius. When that didn’t happen, the choice had to be made earlier this spring, well before the summit in Washington in July.

Now, when the foreign ministers of the NATO countries gather in Prague on Thursday and Friday, the secretary general is still not chosen.

More discussions are ahead, said the US ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith to journalists under the meeting.

Holland’s outgoing prime minister Mark Rutte has gained the support of most NATO countries.

However, the Secretary General is elected unanimously and the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis has not given up his candidacy so far.

According to HS’s information, Rutte has not received the support of either Hungary or Slovakia.

Now the hope is that the selection will be completed before the summer summit.

The current Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg the season ends in October. He has worked in the position for ten years. Last year, Stoltenberg’s position as Secretary General was extended for the fourth time, because it was not possible to choose a new Secretary General.

The Chancellery of Iohannis of Romania denied For Politico Under the Prague meeting, that there would be pressure on Iohannis to give up his candidacy.

Delay now means that the election of NATO’s secretary general will most likely coincide with the distribution of the EU’s top leadership positions after the EU elections.

It tends to add twists to the matter, even if the choices are not officially related.

The corresponding distribution of high positions is always about balancing where the candidates come from. Now two large organizations are choosing their top management at the same time.

With both choices running at the same time, there are two uncertainties, making it more difficult to reach a solution if there is controversy surrounding one, said one source representing a NATO country.

The EU elections will be held on June 9.

After them, the presidencies of the EU Commission, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament, as well as the position of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will be shared. In addition, a number of commissioners will be appointed. There has been talk, among other things, about the new position of commissioner focusing on defense.

In NATO the delay of the general secretary race is influenced, among other things, by Eastern Europe’s desire to have a wider representation in Euro-Atlantic leadership roles. To this Iohannis from Romania

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when running for office in March.

Eastern European countries have had the experience for a long time that they are not fairly represented in the places in question.

Dissatisfaction with this was clearly heard, for example, at the Lennart Meri conference focusing on security policy organized in Tallinn earlier in May.

Former President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves listed how there are five positions in the EU and NATO that matter: the President of the Commission, the President of the European Council, the President of the Parliament, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Secretary General of NATO.

“In the last 20 years, we’ve had 20 people [näillä paikoilla], four times five people. During that time, 1.5 of these have been from Central and Eastern Europe,” he wondered.

Also the Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas criticized the uneven distribution of seats. Some of the countries have been in NATO for 25 years and the leadership still comes from the countries that formed the alliance 75 years ago, he said in Tallinn.

However, Estonia recently gave its support to Rutte. If elected, Rutte would be the fourth Dutch secretary-general.

Polish Donald Tusk was president of the European Council in 2014–2019. On the other hand, the chairman of the parliament was a Pole for half of the election period Jerzy Buzek. A Romanian is currently the Deputy Secretary General of NATO Mircea Geoană.

Although Iohannis is unlikely to be elected to the leadership of NATO now, the race may also affect the distribution of EU seats in some way.

Politico magazine according to sources, Iohannis would have come to an agreement with key allies that he would withdraw from the race by early June or a month before the NATO meeting in Washington.

Iohannis met the President of the United States Joe Biden earlier in May. The United States has given its support to Rutte.

According to the paper’s assessment, withdrawing from the race could improve Iohannis’s chances in discussions about other leadership positions. Iohannis’ name has also appeared in these speculations.