NATO selects German general as next military committee chair over Canada’s defence chief

Gen. Jennie Carignan speaks at the Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence in Ottawa, in March. Only three Canadians have ever served as chair of NATO's military committee. Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press

NATO chiefs of defence have elected German Gen. Carsten Breuer as the next chair of the alliance’s military committee, over Canada’s top military commander .

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan ran against Breuer for the top NATO position.

NATO chiefs of defence met in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday to choose the next chair. It’s a prestige posting but it doesn’t carry the same level of clout as the alliance’s most senior role of supreme allied commander, a powerful command position that usually goes to an American.

Only three Canadians have ever served as chair of the military committee, and the last time was during the Afghanistan war in the mid-2000s.