NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has signed a one-year contract extension, after months seeking a consensus replacement candidate failed to bear fruit. The announcement comes a week before a NATO leaders summit.
NATO members on Tuesday extended the tenure of the alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg by one year, following failed efforts to settle on a consensus successor for the role.
The announcement comes a week before the NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania that is sure to be dominated by the Western military alliance's reponse to the conflict in Ukraine.
"Honored by NATO allies' decision to extend my term as secretary general until 1 October 2024," Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter. "The transatlantic bond between Europe and North America has ensured our freedom and security for nearly 75 years, and in a more dangerous world, our Alliance is more important than ever."
Stoltenberg had been planning to leave both this year and in 2022, but has now extended by one year twice in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Last year, Stoltenberg gave up a planned new post at Norway's central bank in order to remain at the helm of NATO, a decision announced just a few days after the invasion.
