Outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being supported by senior Tories and Ukrainian MPs to be the next NATO secretary general as incumbent Jens Stoltenberg is widely expected to stand down in September 2022, according to The Telegraph.
The newspaper cited Richard Drax MP, a senior Conservative member of the defense select committee, as saying that he was willing to back Johnson for the role of new NATO chief.
“Any distinguished Brit would be a great choice. If indeed that is what Boris Johnson wants to go and do, of course I would support that”.
In an apparent nod to Moscow’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine, Mark Francois MP, another member of the defense select committee, in turn told The Telegraph that “people will probably argue over Boris Johnson’s legacy for years – but one thing which is clearly inarguable is his absolutely staunch support for Ukraine in the face of Russian barbarity.”
“If he were to apply to become the Secretary General of Nato, I suspect he could rely on [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky for a reference,” Francois argued.
One more sign of support came from the UK’s former Brexit minister David Jones, who claimed that “Boris has actually led the Western response to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.” According to Jones, “it was Boris who went to Sweden and Finland and urged the leaders of both countries to make applications for NATO membership, which of course they did.”
Ukrainian MP Oleksii Goncharenko, for his part, described Johnson as “the right person to take over from Jens Stoltenberg as he understands the challenges that NATO and the West face.”
Goncharenko argued that the UK has been one of Kiev’s “most important supporters and has imposed meaningful sanctions on Russia,” which came shortly after Moscow launched a special operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine on February 24.
Some, however, remained downbeat about a scenario of BoJo being at the helm of NATO, with Lord Dannatt, former head of the British Army, saying that he could not support Johnson because of the PM’s nature.
“Undoubtedly he has done a lot of good things and our full square support for Ukraine is fantastic. But I am afraid it is the personal stuff, the lack of integrity, the lack of trust. Frankly, we don’t want to expose Boris Johnson on the international stage for more ridicule. He is a national embarrassment,” Dannatt told The Telegraph.
He was echoed by an unnamed senior Ministry of Defense source who was quoted by the newspaper as saying that there was a likelihood that French President Emmanuel Macron would veto BoJo’s possible push for NATO leadership.
“The reality is that NATO sec gens are appointed by unanimous decision. Any country can veto. Do you think President Macron would nominate Boris Johnson to be the sec gen of NATO? It is a challenge for a Brit full stop. You need the United States to support you and the French to say ‘yes’,” the source asserted.
On July 7, Johnson announced that he was standing down as Conservative party leader, adding that he plans to remain in office as prime minister until a successor is picked. BoJo had been under pressure to resign amid a series of scandals, including the “Partygate” row, which revealed that several social gatherings were held at BoJo’s offices throughout 2020 and 2021 in violation of the COVID-19 lockdown rules.