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Estonian diplomat and security expert Juri Luik is one of the potential candidates for the position of deputy secretary general of NATO, Estonia's public broadcaster ERR reports, citing Politico.
Estonian security expert Juri Luik could become new NATO deputy secretary general
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Senior correspondent at Politico, Ryan Heath, named Juri Luik as one of the potential new deputy secretary generals when interviewing NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow.
Heath asked Stoltenberg if he is planning to appoint the new deputy secretary general before the Warsaw summit or in the course of it and also asked Vershbow the names of possible candidates.
Stoltenberg did not want to comment on that, after which Heath said that the two people everyone has to keep an eye on are Juri Luik and Rose Gottemoeller.
It is known that the U.S. administration would like to see Rose Gottemoeller, the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security for the U.S. State Department, in the position, ERR reports.
Luik has served as Estonia's foreign minister, defense minister and member of parliament. His diplomatic career includes ambassadorial postings to NATO, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. He was ambassador to the United States in 2003-2007 and Estonia's permanent representative to NATO in 2007-2012. Luik became ambassador to Moscow in 2012. As of August 2015 he heads the Tallinn-based International Center for Defense and Security.
NATO's present deputy secretary general is U.S. diplomat Alexander Vershbow who assumed office in February 2012.