Former Norwegian PM and NATO opponent to be next NATO Secretary General?

By Ian Davis, NATO Watch

The process of finding a replacement for Anders Fogh Rasmussen is said to be in its final stages with Jens Stoltenberg, Norway’s former Prime Minister, set to become NATO’s 13th Secretary General, according to reports in the Norwegian press. The four most powerful NATO countries - US, UK, France and Germany - are thought to be backing the Norwegian candidate, and the appointment may be confirmed as early as when NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels on 1-2 April.

Norway has been a member of NATO ever since the alliance was founded in 1949, but a Norwegian has never previously held the position of Secretary General.  However, given that there is no formal selection process—diplomats from the NATO states informally discuss potential candidates behind closed doors until a consensus is reached—there may still be scope for the current front-runner to be blocked.
 
Historically, there has been no real attempt to rotate the post evenly among member states. Of the previous 12 Secretary General’s, three have been British, two have been Belgian, three have been Dutch and one Italian, German, Spaniard and Dane. What has been a constant throughout is the fact that NATO‘s top general is always an American and the alliance‘s top diplomat is always a European. This arrangement is intended to balance the influence of the United States, which appoints the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), NATO's top general. Hence, there is a perpetual merry-go-round of European civilian leadership and American military leadership of the alliance.
 
Stoltenberg´s candidacy was first reported in an article by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica on 18 March. At that time, Stoltenberg wouldn’t confirm or deny the report: “In the months that have passed since the election I’ve been mentioned in different contexts, for various jobs, and I’ve answered the same every time,” Stoltenberg told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). “That’s that I can’t confirm or deny it. The same applies with this speculation.” Asked whether he would take the NATO job if offered it, he repeated the same answer but added “I think it’s always very nice to be mentioned”.
 
According to The Nordic Page, Stoltenberg opposed Norway's NATO accession in the mid-1980s and then later argued that as a member state, Norway ought to fight for nuclear-free zones and a freeze on nuclear arsenals in the alliance. This is his bio, posted by The Nordic Page:
 
Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who was Prime Minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and again from 2005 to 2013. He has been leader of the Norwegian Labour Party since 2002. He is leader and parliamentary leader of the Labour Party, and a UN special envoy on climate change. Stoltenberg has had a number of international assignments. These include chairing the UN High-Level Panel on System Wide Coherence and the High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing.
 
First elected to Parliament in 1993 for the Oslo constituency, Stoltenberg served as State Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment from 1990 to 1991 and as Minister of Industry from 1993 to 1996 in the Third Brundtland Cabinet, respectively. Following the resignation of Brundtland in 1996, Thorbjørn Jagland was elected leader of the Labour Party and became Prime Minister, while Stoltenberg was appointed Minister of Finance, an office he held until 17 October 1997 when Jagland and the entire government resigned. While in parliamentary opposition, Stoltenberg served in the standing committees on energy affairs. Following a motion of confidence against the First Bondevik Cabinet, Stoltenberg was appointed Prime Minister on 3 March 2000, despite being deputy leader of the party, and not the party leader.
 
After poor results in the 2001 parliamentary election, and the subsequent fall of his government on 19 October of that same year, Stoltenberg successfully challenged Thorbjørn Jagland for the party leadership in 2002, and led the party to victory in the 2005 election by forming a Red-Green coalition government with the Centre Party (Sp) and the Socialist Left Party (SV), taking office on 17 October 2005. He was re-elected in 2009 for a second term as Prime Minister, but lost the election for a third term in 2013. He submitted his resignation on 14 October 2013 and left office two days later.