Despite media reports that his tenure could be extended in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will conclude his term as planned in October, according to a spokesperson for the alliance.

Stoltenberg’s mandate has been extended three times, and he has served for a total of almost nine years.

“The Secretary-General’s term comes to an end in October of this year and he has no intention to seek another extension of his mandate,” NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said late on Saturday.

Presumptions arose stemming from Welt am Sonntag’s earlier report that Stoltenberg’s term was to be extended again as the alliance sought to maintain stability during the war in Ukraine.

Holder of a degree in economics from the University of Oslo, former journalist, once the leader of Norway’s Labour Party and Norway’s former Prime Minister in 2000-2001 and 2005-2013, Stoltenberg had his NATO term extended last year. He has also been his country’s finance minister and energy minister.

Now the prospects for Stoltenberg include either retirement or, as reported by Welt, replacing David Malpass as the president of the World Bank in April 2024. It was also at that time when alliance members wanted to give Stoltenberg the opportunity to chair the organization’s 75th-anniversary summit in Washington.

But as regards Stoltenberg’s successor at the Alliance’s steering wheel, none has been named so far. Among the most likely candidates are Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.