It is a turbulent time for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Russia’s invasion of Ukraine created the main turmoil, delaying the transition of NATO leadership. The current Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, has announced that he will step down next fall as his 9-year term has already been extended three times due to the war. Meanwhile, the defense alliance just two days ago added its 31st member, Finland, with only a few technical issues remaining before the country’s official accession to the bloc.

So the next head of NATO has a lot to manage. And as the leadership change approaches, so do the possible names for the succession race. A publication of the British newspaper The Sun, citing a diplomatic source, puts the name of the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen as one of the most prevalent.

In fact, he mentions that it has been proposed by some NATO member states. But her name is not the favorite, for voices that have the main say in the vote for the next Secretary General, such as Britain for example.

Britain vetoes von der Leyen by supporting Ben Wallace

According to sources, again from the Sun, Britain is seriously considering vetoing the possible election of Ursula von der Leyen. Her key card seems to be the Commission president’s bad record as Germany’s defense minister in the period 2013-2019. It is pointed out that the name of the German Minister of Defense of the Merkel government was involved in corruption cases, such as excessive waste of public money and violation of the rules for awarding defense projects.

At the same time, however, this strict position of Britain is perhaps fueled by the fact that its defense minister is considered a strong candidate. Ben Wallace.

The country has seen a British head of NATO for 20 years, since George Robertson. This makes it even more desirable for this position, since as a country, lately, it has been leading the resistance against Russia. Ben Wallace had admitted last year, in a related question, that it is a “good job” but at the same time he “loves” the position of Minister of Defense.

It is emphasized that all 13 NATO Secretaries General were men, which puts more women and names in the frame, such as the Canadian deputy prime minister, Christia Freeland, which appears to have the support of the US as well.