I'm John Datsch to with Junior Damse, the editor-in-chief of Strategic York for the

Carnegie Endowment for an international peace.

She's in Berlin, We're observing headlines, competing

headlines out of London, about Mr McCrone of France, Mr Schultz, her Schultz of

Berlin. And now we move to Jens Stoltenberg, who has been asked to stay on as Secretary General

of NATO an additional year at Brussels.

He is quoted as saying, no NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine, characterizing the present opinion of what must

be unanimous before these decisions are made.

What must also be unanimous is the choice for the next leader of NATO starting in 25, I believe.

20, no, this year, 24, I have lost count.

Judy, your column is excellent because you recommend the

Eastern flank. What does that mean, Judy? The Eastern flank essentially means

the three Baltic states, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and

even further down Romania and Bulgaria and I don't include the Nordic because they've had their share of NATO Secretary Generals.

But frankly, these countries who joined the European, who joined NATO in 2004. It's their time. The time has come. How they see Russia,

how they see Ukraine, how they see threats, how they see the security of Europe.

And all over the nature's history and since 2004

there hasn't been one member of the Eastern flank leading the NATO Transatlantic Alliance.

Is there a resistance sort of mumbled resistance because if you went to the Baltic states or Poland you're going to

uh... voices that are

vividly marshal about Russia is it does that make people hesitate? I think so.

I think yes, there is a feeling among the West European.

...