A sensitive personal issue in the middle of the worsening Ukraine crisis: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg changes jobs and leaves the defense alliance. Stoltenberg will head the Norwegian central bank in the future.
A change of boss at the wrong time: in the midst of the serious tensions with Russia, NATO has to look for a successor for Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The 62-year-old will be the new head of the Norwegian central bank, as announced by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance in Oslo on Friday.
Stoltenberg has been Secretary General of the military alliance since 2014. His current mandate expires on September 30, 2022. The Social Democrat was Prime Minister in his home country from 2005 to 2013.
Jens Stoltenberg: Too close to Prime Minister Gahr?
Stoltenberg’s candidacy for the post of head of the central bank was controversial because of his close friendship with the Social Democratic Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støhre. As NATO Secretary General, he is currently particularly concerned with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Western military alliance made up of 30 European and North American countries fears that Russian troops could invade the neighboring country.
The previous deputy chief Ida Wolden Bache was also under discussion as a candidate for the post of head of the central bank. Wolden Bache will now temporarily take over the management on March 1st. Stoltenberg is expected to take up the new post at the beginning of December. This means that the NATO states still have some time before deciding on his successor.
Russia and China call for the end of NATO’s eastward expansion
Meanwhile, China backed Russia’s demands for binding security guarantees in its conflict with the West. Both countries also demanded an end to NATO expansion to the east on Friday. This emerges from a joint statement released by the Kremlin at the summit of party and state leader Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin in Beijing. Both sides said they were “deeply concerned” about serious challenges to international security.
Source: Stern
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