Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has denied outright that he had been a candidate to the post of NATO secretary general.

He called discussion on his prospects “media speculation”:

As you all know and as I have many times strongly underlined I was not and am not a candidate; however Poland has its criteria on the future secretary of the Alliance linked to the traditional role of NATO, the defence of its territory and also connected to the Alliance’s most important operation - in Afghanistan.

The Polish Foreign Minister said that Poland was presenting its position at confidential intergovernment consultations and that since the Secretary General of the Alliance was nominated by a consensus, the candidature must  be accepted by all the member states.

The decision is expected at the NATO summit in April. According to western media, the most possible candidature is that of Danish Premier Anders Fogh Rasmussen, although this may arouse the objections of Turkey.