According to the newspaper, both U.S. President Barack Obama and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel support Stoltenberg’s candidacy.  Stoltenberg, on the other hand, does not even comment on what he called speculation.
– It’s nice to be mentioned in this type of context, but it does not mean I acknowledge candidacy, said Stoltenberg to NTB.
Stoltenberg stressed he is still parliamentary leader and leader of the Arbeiderpartiet (Labour Party).Â
Commenting on La Repubblica’s report, senior researcher at the Institute for Defence Studies, Svein Melby says Stoltenberg has high chance to be chosen as NATO’s new general secretary.
Because the current NATO secretary is Danish, it is considered to be unlikely that the next Secretary General will come from another Nordic country. But the USA and Germany’s decisions play a decisive role.