Russia believes that the next United Nations Secretary General should be a representative of the Eastern European group of countries, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Representatives of the Asian, Latin American, African and Western European groups of nations have all been elected to the UN top post but never in the history of the world organization has the Secretary General come from a country from Eastern Europe, Lavrov said in an interview with TASS news agency.

He also said that the Eastern European group of countries, including those that are NATO members, had signed a letter to all UN member states stating their common position that the next UN Secretary General has to be eastern European.

About 10 such candidates have been nominated by their countries, including women, Lavrov said. Submitting several eastern European nominations for consideration to the UN General Assebly cannot be ruled out, he added.

Bulgaria has nominated UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova for the post of UN Secretary General held now by Ban Ki-moon. His term of office will expire in December 2016.

Croatia’s Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic has confirmed that she will run for UN Secretary-General.