Macedonians Radmila Sekerinska appointed NATO deputy secretary

NATO said the coalition chief, Mark Rutte, decided to appoint Sekerinska as the next deputy secretary.

“I have the pleasure of announcing Radmila Sekerinska's appointment as deputy secretary general. She really believes in NATO, knows the work needed to be part of the alliance, and what it means to be a full-fledged member”, Rutte said.

Sekerinska will officially assume the new post at the end of this year.

She has served in the past as deputy minister for European Integration and Macedonian Defence Minister, including during the time her country joined the NATO coalition in 2020.

Sekerinska will replace incumbent Deputy Secretary General Boris Ruge, who took this position temporarily in early autumn, after then Deputy Secretary Mircea Geoana announced he would run for president of Romania.

Some NATO officials, who spoke on condition that they remain anonymous, told Radio Free Europe that there was a strong desire for someone from Central and Eastern Europe to take this position and that she to meet a woman.

Among the other candidates were former Bulgarian Foreign Minister Maria Gabriel, Croatia's former president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, and Olivera Injac, who was Minister of Defence in Montenegro from 2020 to 2022.

Sekerinska will be NATO's top official from the Western Balkans region outside the European Union. Currently, she is deputy head of the Party of European Socialists.

The deputy secretary general's main role is to replace the head and chair 32 ambassadors' meetings in the North Atlantic Council twice a week, or at any emergency meeting, including the NATO-Ukrainian Council. / REL