As President Joe Biden prepares to sit down Monday with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, a personnel issue will be looming: Who will replace the outgoing NATO leader when he departs his post later this year?
Biden hasn't yet settled on a candidate to support to replace Stoltenberg, a senior US official said. The job traditionally goes to a European, but requires the backing of the American president -- NATO's largest and most powerful member.
Leaders are expected to try and coalesce around a new leader at July's NATO summit in Lithuania, meaning Biden must make up his mind soon on who to back.
He's already received a pitch on United Kingdom Defense Minister Ben Wallace from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during an Oval Office meeting last week. A person familiar with the matter said Sunak entered the meeting prepared to sell Biden on Wallace, though afterward Biden told reporters he wasn't yet convinced.
"We're going to have to get a consensus within NATO to see that happen," he said, calling the UK candidate "very qualified."
A senior British official said ahead of the meeting last week that "it's important that the next NATO secretary general carries on Stoltenberg's good work of modernization but also understands the importance of defense spending at a critical time."
That could be regarded as a potential knock on contenders from nations that haven't met the NATO pledge of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense budgets — a group that includes Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, with whom Biden met in the Oval Office last week.
Some European diplomats speculated her visit to the White House was an opportunity for Biden and his team to sound her out about the top NATO job.
Frederiksen said afterward she didn't want to speculate about the potential of heading up the military alliance. She declined to say whether it was discussed with Biden in the Oval Office.
That hasn't quieted speculation she may be in a leading position to earn Biden's endorsement for the job. The alliance has never previously been led by a woman, a factor that could play into Biden's thinking.
Other candidates for NATO secretary general could include Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, according to diplomats.
Stoltenberg's term ends in October, and his spokesman has said he will leave then though his tenure has been extended three times already. He's expected to take up a post as head of Norway's central bank, and it's unclear how much longer the government will keep that job open for him if he doesn't leave NATO in the fall.
He has led the alliance through one of its most consequential periods following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The bloc has remained remarkably united in providing Kyiv military and economic assistance.
It's also expanded, with Finland and Sweden both taking steps to join. The two countries have historically remained unaligned, but Russia's aggression prompted a change of heart.
Finland's membership was finalized in April, but Turkey has remained resistant to Sweden joining the defense alliance. Leaders hope the roadblock will be resolved ahead of the NATO summit in July.
