The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is running for the position of the new Secretary General of NATO, The Sun reported.

Her mandate as the President of the European Commission ends next year, but a diplomatic source informed that a number of NATO member countries have proposed to her to head this alliance in October.

It has been noted that von der Leyen will have to overcome the non-transparent selection process, and this move will probably anger Eurosceptics.

The current NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, shall leave his post at the end of this year; his term was extended due to the conflict in Ukraine.

Official elections are not held, and NATO chooses a new leader privately, based on consensus.

The Americans usually do not nominate a candidate because a US general traditionally serves as the supreme commander of the NATO forces in Europe. However, the White House has a lot of influence over who will get that position.

British sources informed that UK will likely veto von der Leyen's candidacy, insinuating her activity in the leadership of the German armed forces.

UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is also vying for the post of NATO Secretary General. If Wallace is elected, he will be the first NATO Secretary General from the UK in the last 20 years. It is believed that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak officially supports his candidacy.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was also nominated for that position, but, as they say, she ruled out her candidacy because she is fighting against the “threat of Russia” near her own borders.

Canada's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, is also one of the contenders for the next NATO Secretary General. But a NATO source suggested that she is unlikely to get that position because Canada does not fulfill the NATO countries’ task of allocating 2 percent of the GDP to defense.