Von der Leyen’s nomination to the post of NATO Secretary General was blocked by German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz due to the politician’s excessively harsh statements towards Russia, BILD reports on February 18.
On October 1, the powers of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expire. He had previously announced that he would not remain in office.
According to the newspaper WELT am SONNTAG, citing diplomatic sources, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, proposed to President Joe Biden to nominate the German Ursula von der Leyen for this position as president of the European Commission.
Biden then turned to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and asked for his consent. But Scholz refused due to his extremely critical position towards Russia. The Chancellor believes that this could become a long-term disadvantage following the possible cessation of hostilities in Ukraine.
“Scholz was categorically opposed to von der Leyen becoming head of NATO”write the post.
It should be noted that the reason also lies in the internal party struggle in Germany. Scholz is a representative of the SPD party and von der Leyen is a representative of the CDU.
Bundestag member and CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter has already claimed that Scholz is doing “Everything to please Putin”.
According to the deputy, unlike Chancellor von der Leyen, he sincerely wants to see Ukraine in NATO. The most likely candidate for the position of secretary general of the alliance is now the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte. He has the support of 21 of the 31 member countries.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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