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Ben Wallace

Photo: Christian Marquardt / POOL / EPA

He wants more: British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is throwing his hat into the ring for a successor to outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. "I've always said that this is a good job. That's a job I would like," Wallace told the German Press Agency in Berlin, where he met his counterpart Boris Pistorius on Wednesday. Wallace: "Well, NATO Secretary General would be a fantastic job and NATO is extremely important for the security of all of us. I would be happy to do my part to ensure that you can lie safely in bed at night.«

However, he made it clear that he was also fulfilling his current task as Minister of Defence in the British government. He is like Pistorius, who is also working in a time of reforms and investments. Wallace: "These ministries have been cutting costs for 30 years and now it's the other way around."

The Conservative came to the post of defence minister under Boris Johnson in 2019. Shortly before the Russian army invaded Ukraine in early 2022, he published a widely acclaimed essay in which he strongly warned against Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambitions. Wallace has long been the most popular cabinet member among active members of the Tory party. He already made an impression in the country with his calm and matter-of-fact manner during the chaotic evacuation of Western troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021.

Von der Leyen allegedly has no interest

Stoltenberg's term as NATO Secretary General was recently extended due to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, but expires at the end of September. In February, he had rejected reports of a possible further extension of his term of office. The Norwegian has led the alliance since the end of 2014.

The British newspaper "The Sun" had reported that the former German Defense Minister and current EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was a candidate. Von der Leyen had rejected reports of her allegedly planned move to the top of the Western defense alliance.

On the question of who leads the organization, the member states of the alliance usually agree behind the scenes. As a rule, an American is the military commander-in-chief, while the secretary-general comes from the ranks of the other, mostly European, member states.

dop/dpa