Estonian public media ERR reports with reference to Politico that Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has officially confirmed her interest to become the next NATO Secretary General after the end of Jens Stoltenberg’s extended term.
Kallas’ name has been associated with the top post in the alliance for a while even though previously she doubted the possibility of the secretary general’s post being handed to a politician from a country of NATO’s eastern flank. During Politico Defence Summit, when she was “pressed” on whether or not she wants to be considered for this role, she simply said: “Yes”. A round of applause followed shortly after.
Before the summit Kallas had mentioned hearing a “joke” – that the next NATO leader should be a woman from one of the new member states, and that it should be a country that spends at least 2% of their annual GDP on defence.
Politico reports that the Estonian PM said she is confident about Ukraine’s chances of beating Russia on the battlefield. She said she was surprised over the fact that there were fewer sceptics than she thought there would be among US figures during a meeting in Washington this week.
“I actually had a very, very good meeting with all of those people and I was asking the ambassadors, like, ‘when are we meeting the sceptical ones?” Kallas said. She denied claims that the war is in a dead end. She said people should not end up in this trap, stressing that
“it would be in Russia’s interests”.
“What we want to have is sustainable peace. And of course, you know, American support for that is fundamental,” added the Estonian PM.
This week the Estonian PM was away in Washington with an official visit. There she met with officials representing [US President Joe] Biden’s administration and legislators.
Former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has served as NATO Secretary General since 2014. His term was extended four times.
Also read: Kallas: No question of restoring normal relations with Russia
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