British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace throws his hat into the ring for a succession to the outgoing Nato-Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “I have always said that this is a good task. It’s a job I would like,” Wallace told the German Press Agency in Berlin, where he met his counterpart on Wednesday Boris Pistorius had met.
According to Wallace, Nato-Secretary General would be a fantastic job and NATO is extremely important to the security of all of us. I would be happy to do my bit to make sure you can lie in bed safely at night.”
However, he made it clear that his current job as Defense Secretary in the British government is also fulfilling. He feels like Pistorius, who also works in a time of reforms and investments. Wallace: “Those departments have been saving for 30 years and now it’s the other way around.”
The Conservative came under in 2019 Boris Johnson to the post of Secretary of Defense. Shortly before the Russian army in early 2022 Ukraine invaded, he published a widely acclaimed essay in which he urgently warned against the ambitions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Wallace has long been the most popular cabinet member among active members of the Tory party. He 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. For a short time he was already being traded as a potential successor to Johnson.
Stoltenberg’s term as NATO Secretary General was recently extended because of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, but it expires at the end of September. In February, he dismissed reports of a possible further extension of his term. The Norwegian has headed the alliance since the end of 2014.
