NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday left open the prospect of extending his mandate for a fourth term, while senior officials from the alliance’s member states openly supported the idea, including one of his potential successors, Reuters reported.

Stoltenberg’s term has already been extended three times, and he is due to step down in September after nine years as secretary general of the military alliance, which has gained even more importance since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

NATO is struggling to find a successor who can build the necessary consensus among its 31 members, from the United States to Europe and Turkey.

Asked during a visit to Washington this week whether he had been persuaded to stay, Stoltenberg said: “I am responsible for all the decisions this alliance has to make, except one. And this is about my future. This is the decision of 31 allies.”

Traditionally, this post is held by a senior European political figure, but no one can take the post without the support of the United States, the dominant power in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The main candidate would also support the extension of Stoltenberg’s mandate

Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, previously said he did not want an extension of his mandate.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Stoltenberg insisted he still did not seek an extension to his mandate.

But he has repeatedly refused to say what he would do if NATO members asked him to stay.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that if there were no signs that the alliance would coalesce around a successor, he said an extension to Stoltenberg’s term would be welcome.

“If we do not agree on a successor candidate, NATO will not be able to do without the Secretary General. Therefore, I am naturally in favor of continuing, especially because I value the cooperation (with Stoltenberg),” he told reporters.

When asked about an extension for Stoltenberg, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen replied: “This option sounds good to my ears.”

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has openly said he would like the job, but Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister who has been seen as a very serious candidate despite not being a candidate, described Stoltenberg’s idea. remain as a “very good decision”.

“I really like my job and I’m going to keep it. So no, I’m not on the way to NATO,” she told Danish broadcaster DR.

Wallace is seen as having little chance because many NATO members argue that the post should go to a former prime minister or president to ensure his political influence is at the highest level, especially with war on the alliance’s doorstep.

Many NATO countries also insisted it was time for the alliance to have its first female secretary-general, pointing to Frederiksen, a social democrat who became Denmark’s youngest prime minister in 2019 and was re-elected last year.

While some countries, particularly in Western Europe, have signaled their support for Frederiksen, others have expressed displeasure that Denmark is falling short of NATO’s goal of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense. And some, especially in Eastern Europe, complained that he would become the third head of NATO in a row from a northern country.