List of NATO Secretaries General

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The 11th Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer meets President George W. Bush on March 20, 2006.[1]

The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is the chairman of the North Atlantic Council, the supreme decision-making organisation of the defence alliance. The Secretary General also serves as the leader of the organisation's staff and as its chief spokesman.[2] In addition to these official responsibilities, the Secretary General must maintain close relations with the head of state of each NATO country, and work both formally and informally with other diplomats to deal with issues facing the alliance.[3]

As a matter of tradition, the post of Secretary General is held by a European. This structure is intended to balance the influence of the United States, which appoints the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, NATO's most senior military officer.[4] The Secretary General is selected by consensus among the NATO member states. There is no formal process for the selection; instead, diplomats from the NATO states informally discuss the matter until a candidate is selected. The Secretary General typically serves for a four-year term, but he or she may be asked to serve for a fifth year or longer, with the consensus of the member states.[5]

The current Secretary General is Jens Stoltenberg, which took office on 1 October 2014.[6]

Secretaries General

Paul-Henri Spaak, the second Secretary General
Manfred Wörner, the seventh Secretary General

The NATO countries selected the first Secretary General on April 4, 1952. Since that time, twelve different diplomats have served officially as Secretary General. The position has also been occupied temporarily on three occasions by an acting Secretary General in between appointments.

# Secretary General Photo Nationality Took office Left office Length of term
1 Hastings Ismay Ismay cropped.jpg  United Kingdom March 24, 1952 May 16, 1957 j5 years
2 Paul-Henri Spaak Bundesarchiv Bild 183-39998-0427, Paul-Henri Spaak.jpg  Belgium May 16, 1957 April 21, 1961 g4 years
3 Dirk Stikker Stikker, Dirk - SFA002019718.jpg  Netherlands April 21, 1961 August 1, 1964 e3 years [N 1]
4 Manlio Brosio Manlio Brosio.PNG  Italy August 1, 1964 October 1, 1971 m7 years
5 Joseph Luns Luns, J.M.A.H. - SFA008007314.jpg  Netherlands October 1, 1971 June 25, 1984 n13 years
6 Peter Carrington 60px  United Kingdom June 25, 1984 July 1, 1988 ga4 years
7 Manfred Wörner Manfred Woerner 1993.jpg  Germany July 1, 1988 August 13, 1994 l6 years [N 2]
— Sergio Balanzino (acting) Sergio Balanzino.jpg  Italy August 13, 1994 October 17, 1994 c2 months [N 2]
8 Willy Claes Willy Claes - Filip Naudts.jpg  Belgium October 17, 1994 October 20, 1995 d1 year [N 3]
— Sergio Balanzino (acting) Sergio Balanzino.jpg  Italy October 20, 1995 December 5, 1995 b6 weeks [N 3]
9 Javier Solana Javier Solana 1999.jpg  Spain December 5, 1995 October 6, 1999 f4 years
10 George Robertson George Robertson.jpg  United Kingdom October 14, 1999 December 17, 2003 i4 years
— Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo (acting)  Italy December 17, 2003 January 1, 2004 a3 weeks[N 4]
11 Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Dehoopscheffercrop.jpg  Netherlands January 1, 2004[N 5] August 1, 2009 k5 years
12 Anders Fogh Rasmussen Former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the Nordic Council Session in Helsinki 2008-10-28.jpg  Denmark August 1, 2009 October 1, 2014[15] 5 years
13 Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg 2009-06-03 (bilde 02).JPG  Norway October 1, 2014 incumbent

Notes

  1. ↑ Stikker resigned from his position a year early due to poor health.[7]
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wörner died in office on August 13, 1994 of cancer. The Deputy Secretary General, Sergio Balanzino, took over his daily responsibilities for the last several months on his life and then became acting Secretary General upon his death until the appointment of Willy Claes.[8]
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Claes resigned as Secretary General after a bribery scandal, centering on his actions in the Belgian cabinet in the 1980s. After his resignation, Deputy Secretary General Sergio Balanzino served as acting Secretary General until the appointment of Javier Solana.[9]
  4. ↑ George Robertson announced in January 2003 that he would be stepping down in December.[10] Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was selected as his successor, but could not assume the office until January 2004 because of his commitment in the Dutch Parliament.[11] Robertson was asked to extend his term until Scheffer was ready, but declined, so Minuto-Rizzo, the Deputy Secretary General, took over in the interim.[12]
  5. ↑ Scheffer was named Secretary General of NATO effective January 1, 2004,[13] but he did not take office until January 5, 2004.[12][14]

References

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cs:Generální tajemník NATO

da:NATO's generalsekretær es:Secretario General de la Organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte fr:Liste des secrétaires généraux de l'OTAN fy:Siktaris-Generaal fan de NAFO nl:Secretaris-generaal van de NAVO pl:Sekretarz Generalny NATO uk:Список Генеральних секретарів НАТО

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