Jens Stoltenberg, meeting at the White House with President Biden

2023-06-12 15:31:28, Kosova & Bota CNA

President Joe Biden is expected to meet today at the White House with the outgoing Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg.

The meeting comes as the race to find his successor heats up.

Mr. Stoltenberg has led the military alliance since 2014, a period during which his mandate has been extended three times. But at the beginning of this year, he announced that at the end of September he will leave.

Efforts to replace him have intensified as leaders of the 31-member military alliance gather next month for their annual high-level meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Last week, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mentioned UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace to President Biden as a possible candidate. The US president also met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, another potential contender.

During a news conference with Mr. Sunak at his side, Mr. Biden called Mr. Wallace a "very qualified" person, but noted that discussions to find a "consensual" candidate to replace Mr. Stoltenberg are continuing. Opinion President Biden carries a lot of weight as the United States spends more on defense than any other member country of the alliance.

Ms Frederiksen tried to sidestep the issue of her possible run for NATO Secretary General after meeting with President Biden last week. She declined to say whether she had discussed the issue with him, but told reporters she did not want to give voice to speculation about NATO. The alliance has never had a woman secretary general.

Denmark has lagged behind with NATO's announced objective of spending 2% of its Gross Domestic Product on the military by 2030. But at the end of last month, the government of this country announced that it intended, during the decade next year, to invest about 20.6 billion dollars for defense, due to serious security threats.

Mr. Biden and Mr. Stoltenberg are also expected to discuss Russian aggression in Ukraine as well as efforts to persuade Turkey, a NATO member, to give up its blockade of Sweden's membership in the alliance./ VOA