The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is not running for the position of Secretary General of NATO, the spokesperson of the Commission said on Saturday, as quoted by dpa.

Statements in this regard by the British newspaper The Sun are “baseless speculations”, the Commission reported at the request of the relevant agency.

The daily published information that, according to a diplomatic source, von der Leyen is seeking to succeed Jens Stoltenberg at the head of the North Atlantic Alliance. Other newspaper sources claimed that the British government would oppose such an appointment because of mistakes made by the EC president during his tenure as Germany’s defense minister.

Stoltenberg’s mandate was extended until March last year, shortly after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and is set to expire on September 30 this year. The 63-year-old Norwegian politician held the post of NATO Secretary General for almost nine years, during which the term of resignation was postponed three times.

Recently, there have been speculations that a new continuation may take place in the conditions of the war in Ukraine. At the same time, some diplomats said that keeping Stoltenberg at the helm could create the impression that NATO could not reach an agreement on a new secretary general.