NATO top job should go to country that pays up on defense, Latvian FM says

Latvian Foreign Minister Krišjānis Kariņš, who has joined the race to become NATO’s next secretary-general, thinks the job should go to someone from a country that walks the talk on defense spending.

Latvia is investing "about 2.4 percent of our GDP into defense this year, and we’re heading up to 3 percent in the next three years," Kariņš told POLITICO’s Power Play podcast.

"We sort of put our money where our mouths are," the foreign minister added. "Which is important, I think, for any secretary-general to be able to speak to those members who are not yet doing it."

Several European leaders have expressed interest in taking over as head of the military alliance after NATO’s current chief, Jens Stoltenberg, announced he would step down at the end of his term, which was extended until October.

Aside from Kariņš, Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who could become the alliance’s first female boss, and the Netherlands’ outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte have also said they are interested in the job.

While Rutte is considered to be the front-runner, he has faced criticism over his country’s failure to meet the alliance’s defense spending target, set at 2 percent of each country’s gross domestic product. Estonia’s spending has surpassed that mark since 2015, according to NATO. Latvia has contributed more than 2 percent of its GDP to defense since 2018.

Aside from the role of NATO chief, the race for top jobs in the European Union has otherwise already started in Brussels, after European Council President Charles Michel announced he would run in the European election in June.

If elected, Michel would take office in July, meaning that EU leaders would have to rush through what are usually lengthy negotiations to find his replacement.

Otherwise, they risk having Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin — step in to temporarily chair the meetings between EU leaders as his country takes on the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU on July 1.

Kariņš said Michel’s announcement took him "a little bit by surprise," and added it was "very difficult to imagine how an agreement could be taken before the elections."

If he doesn’t get the NATO job, Kariņš — who is a former member of the European Parliament — said he would not rule out coming back to the European capital. Although he would seek to do so as an EU commissioner instead.

"Politics is a fickle business ... I can certainly close no doors today," Kariņš said.

"Who knows what tomorrow will bring," he concluded.