THE HAGUE -- Outgoing NATO Secretary General George Robertson said on Monday that Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer would be a very good candidate to replace him when he steps down in December.

De Hoop Scheffer and Canadian Finance Minister John Manley have emerged as top candidates likely to succeed Robertson as head of the 19-nation Western defense alliance, Reuters reported.

"There is no official Dutch candidate. If de Hoop Scheffer was to become a candidate he would be a very good Secretary General," Robertson said after meeting de Hoop Scheffer in The Hague as part of a farewell visit to the Netherlands.

Robertson urged NATO members to make a quick decision to appoint a successor. "The quicker a decision is taken, the better," he said.

Robertson was selected the 10th secretary general of NATO in 1999.