NATO chief appears likely to stay on as allies struggle to find a replacement for him

By LORNE COOK and AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg seems increasingly likely to have his term at the helm of the world’s biggest security organization extended again. Members of the 31-nation military alliance are struggling to agree on a candidate to replace him. The former Norwegian prime minister has been NATO’s top civilian official since 2014. His term was due to expire last year but was extended for a second time after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A U.S. official said on Friday that President Joe Biden told Stoltenberg this week it’s “becoming increasingly evident that there’s not going to be consensus” on finding a replacement for him. The official says Biden is “quite comfortable with Stoltenberg hanging on.”