Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, has been appointed as the next NATO deputy secretary general, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced Monday. Gottemoeller is set to replace Alexander Vershbow, a veteran U.S. ambassador who has served in the NATO position since 2012, the statement said. Gottemoeller will begin her service on Oct. 1.
“I am delighted to announce the appointment of Rose Gottemoeller, who will bring to NATO a wealth of experience in international security policy, and in areas such as arms control and relations with Russia,” Stoltenberg said. “She will also be the first woman to hold this key post, which is a milestone in NATO.”
Gottemoeller has been undersecretary since March 2014, after holding the position on an acting basis for just over two years. She previously served as assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, and was the chief U.S. negotiator for the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia. She had previously worked for the Department of Energy and National Security Council, as well as several nongovernmental organizations, including as director of the Carnegie Moscow Center prior to joining the State Department.
Thirteen House Republicans earlier this year wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry objecting to Gottemoeller’s nomination to the NATO position. The March 15 letter called on Kerry to dismiss her nomination due to her “history of providing conflicting information to Congress and our NATO allies.”
They argued Gottemoeller had misled Congress and withheld information about Russia’s violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the country’s new nuclear weapons capabilities. They said Gottemoeller had made “seemingly false statements” on her knowledge of Russia’s 2008 INF violation, and that she withheld INF violation information from NATO.
The letter also said she misled Congress in a December 2015 hearing by denying that she knew of a new Russian nuclear weapon system during New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty negotiations, and later reversing the testimony in a classified session.
The State Department dismissed the allegations in the letter, which was signed by Representatives Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Randy Forbes (R-Va.), Joe Heck (R-Nev.), and Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), among others.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said during a March 14 press briefing that Gottemoeller “has impeccable credentials for that job” and that “any suggestion that she has been anything other than completely forthcoming and honest with members of Congress about Russian activity with respect to the INF – they’re just not based in fact and actually are . . . an affront to her character and integrity.”
A June 14 letter from Senate Republicans to Kerry expressed similar concerns.
Senate Republicans in 2014 unsuccessfully attempted to block Gottemoeller’s appointment to her current position.
