Over and out: All going to plan, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will chair his last summit of the alliance's leaders next week in Washington.
The NATO chief, however, does not show any diminished signs of commitment. In an interview with dpa, the former Norwegian prime minister set out his expectations for Ukraine, and a potential second turn for Donald Trump in the White House.
dpa: Mr secretary general, since June 26, it's official. After 10 years at the head of NATO, your mandate will definitely end on October 1. Are you relieved that the NATO states have finally found a successor for you? Or were you secretly hoping that you would be asked to continue after all?
Stoltenberg: No, I very much welcome that NATO allies have agreed on my successor and ... Mark Rutte will be an excellent secretary general of NATO.
I have known him for many years. He also has demonstrated throughout all these years his abilities to be a consensus builder, which he will take with him when he comes to NATO.
It has been a privilege to serve at NATO for a decade. I thought when I arrived that it [would be] four, maximum five years.
I've been prime minister for 10 years and I didn't imagine that I was going to be secretary general as long as I have been prime minister. But now it's right to leave, and therefore this is good for NATO and it's good for me.
dpa: When you think back, what has been the best moment of your time in office so far?
Stoltenberg: It's always extremely difficult to rank different events and achievements. But of course, to have Finland and Sweden as NATO allies was something I appreciate very much.
It demonstrated so clearly to President Putin that he didn't succeed in closing NATO's door. He wanted NATO to guarantee that we would not allow any more allies. He got the opposite. He got two very capable new allies into the alliance.
dpa: What was the most bitter moment? The start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine? Or the withdrawal from Afghanistan forced by the USA, which ended with the Taliban returning to power?
Stoltenberg: But of course, the full-fledged invasion of Ukraine imposes the biggest security challenge to NATO since the end of the Cold War, and it's the biggest war in Europe since the Second World War. That remains perhaps the most dramatic and the biggest challenge we have faced throughout my tenure.
dpa: The last major event of your term of office will probably be next week's summit in Washington, where the 75th anniversary of the alliance will also be celebrated once again. Do you expect Russia to try to disrupt the celebrations?
Stoltenberg: [There] has been speculations about this before almost every summit in my tenure. I remember the Warsaw summit back in 2016, where we made the decision to deploy [combat] troops to Eastern part of the alliance for the first time in history.
It was a speculation about Russia would try to intimidate or to do something ahead of that summit.
We also heard it before Madrid, we heard it especially before Vilnius. I don't know to what extent Russia actually had any major plans to try to interrupt our summit, but anyway, they have not succeeded.
Having said that, there is an ongoing campaign of Russia in Europe of sabotage, arson, cyberattacks, disinformation. Of course, we always have to be prepared that this can be ramped up in one way or another, be it linked to the summit or not.
dpa: A major support package for Ukraine will be discussed at the summit. What is it about?
Stoltenberg: I expect that allies will agree a long-term pledge to demonstrate that President Putin cannot wait us out.
I expect allies to agree a NATO command for Ukraine to have a stronger NATO framework for the support to make it more robust with the headquarters in Wiesbaden.
dpa: However, contrary to your demands, the allies will only make a concrete commitment to military aid totalling at least €40 billion ($43 billion) for a period of one year. What do they expect from the fact that future economic strength will be the decisive factor in determining who contributes how much?
Stoltenberg: Since we have to be prepared for this can last for a long time, I think more transparency, more predictability, and fair burden sharing in the provision of this support will make it more sustainable.
Then, of course, it's absolutely possible to give more than the minimum requirement, but at least we should ensure that everyone chip in their part based on GDP.
The reason why I believe this is important is that the stronger our support, the sooner this war can end. That's the paradox. The more we commit for a long haul, the sooner the war can end.
Because now Putin believes that he can wait us out. We need to convince him that he cannot wait us out, and then that may create the conditions for ending the war.
dpa: When you took office 10 years ago, NATO only had 28 members - today there are four more with Montenegro, North Macedonia, Finland and Sweden. Why don't you give us a personal tip: how many members will NATO have in 2034?
Stoltenberg: I strongly hope that Ukraine will be an ally, and I worked for that through my tenure here at NATO. There are other candidate members, but when those processes will be finalized, I will not speculate about.
dpa: Your successor Mark Rutte could have to deal with Donald Trump in the coming year, who - to put it mildly - is not exactly an easy ally. You have managed to get along with him to some extent. Do you have a good tip for Mark Rutte?
Stoltenberg: First, I'm absolutely confident that Mark Rutte will be able to work with whoever is elected as president of the United States in November.
I also know that Mark Rutte worked with and met president Trump when he was prime minister.
Then I will not give advice to Mark Rutte, but I expect that the US will remain a strong ally regardless of the outcome of the US elections
