Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen a Strong Contender for NATO Secretary General Post: Meeting with Joe Biden Fueling Speculation

On Monday evening, US President Joe Biden will receive Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at the White House. The two will probably also talk about the vacant job after Jens Stoltenberg, as Secretary General of NATO.

Six weeks ago, VG reported that Frederiksen is highly topical as Stoltenberg’s successor in NATO.

According to VG’s sources, she is still a hot name – and perhaps the most relevant candidate – of a small group of people who may be asked to take over when Stoltenberg’s term in NATO expires on 1 October this year.

It is the top leaders of NATO’s 31 member states who together decide who will be Secretary General of NATO. And the election requires that all 31 agree.

According to VG’s information, President Biden has a good eye for Frederiksen.

After her candidacy was mentioned in VG in April, the speculation about the NATO job exploded in the Danish media and in Danish politics.

First Biden visit

But one of the objections among Danish commentators was that Frederiksen had not been invited to a one-on-one meeting with the American president in the Oval Office in Washington. She has been Prime Minister of Denmark for three years.

But now it’s happening: According to President Biden’s official calendar, he will receive Prime Minister Frederiksen on Monday evening Norwegian time.

Danish media describe the meeting as a possible one job interview.

– Frederiksen is probably the one leading the way right now, especially if the visit to the White House is successful, says Camille Grand, who until recently was assistant secretary general for defense investments in NATO, to Politico.

Meets all requirements

In recent weeks, she has been described as a candidate who meets all the criteria for the position of Secretary General of NATO:

• She has experience at the highest level of politics. Background as prime minister or president of a NATO country is considered a condition. Both Stoltenberg and his predecessor Anders Fogh Rasmussen had prime ministerial experience.
• Her Danish government has been far ahead in its shoes after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She quickly won the people’s support in a referendum for Denmark to enter the EU’s common defense political union, which Denmark initially chose to stay outside.
• Denmark was among the first countries to be positive about giving Ukrainian pilots training in the American F-16 fighter jet, which Ukraine wants.
• And she could become the very first female Secretary General of NATO.

– I can reject that

Mette Fredriksen herself has repeatedly denied that she was job hunting abroad:

– I have seen the Norwegian article and believe that when we get closer to the posts being filled, there will be various rumours. But I am not a candidate. I can reject that. I am very happy to be Prime Minister of Denmark, Frederiksen told the Danish media on 25 April.

She has since given similar answers. But Anders Fogh Rasmussen also spoke out in the same dismissive way in the months before he was formally elected as Secretary General of NATO in August 2009.

According to Biden’s press spokesman John Kirby, the president and the Danish prime minister will talk about Ukraine’s long-term security and the need for F-16 fighter jets. They will also deepen the close relationship between the US and Denmark, according to the White House.