Jens Stoltenberg 'to take over Munich Security Conference'

Outgoing Nato chief expected to become chairman of elite defence gathering likened to Davos

Jens Stoltenberg will hand over the reins of Nato to Mark Rutte on October 1. EPA

Nato's outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is expected to take control of an annual gathering of Europe's defence elite when he leaves office.

Mr Stoltenberg, 65, will become chairman of the Munich Security Conference after its February 2025 meeting, Politico reported. A spokeswoman for the conference did not deny the report, saying any appointments would be announced in due course.

A Nato official said: “We do not comment on rumours. Mr Stoltenberg is fully focused on the completion of his tenure as Nato Secretary General.”

The former prime minister of Norway will step down as Nato chief next month after a decade-long term that was extended twice following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He will be succeeded by the former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte.

The influential Munich summit is attended by presidents, kings and generals and is regarded as the defence and security equivalent of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Its current chairman is Christoph Heusgen, a foreign policy adviser to the former German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Last February's summit was overshadowed by the war in the Middle East but ceasefire discussions on the margins failed to yield a breakthrough. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told delegates the situation in Gaza was "an appalling indictment of the deadlock in global relations".

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been excluded from recent summits, delivered one of Munich's more famous moments in 2007 in a speech attacking the US monopoly on global power, which foreshadowed a decline in relations between Moscow and the West.

Former German ambassador to the United States Wolfgang Ischinger, who chaired the conference from 2008 to 2022, will reportedly remain president of the MSC Foundation. Mr Heusgen is expected to stand down and make way for Mr Stoltenberg.

The handover at Nato will take place in a ceremony in Brussels on October 1. Mr Rutte's appointment was approved by Nato's 32 members in June, after disagreements over Mr Stoltenberg's successor led to him staying on for another year.

Mr Stoltenberg was previously asked to stay on in 2022 after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, scotching his plan to become governor of Norway's central bank. Since then he has encouraged Nato countries to spend more on their armed forces.

Mr Rutte, whose 14-year tenure as Dutch prime minister ended in July, is a supporter of Ukraine hailed by the White House as a "natural leader and communicator". He has told allies not to "moan and whine" about the possibility of Donald Trump winning back the US presidency.