Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was officially appointed as the next Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance by the 32 NATO member states. Rutte received the support of all the member states after Romanian President Klaus Iohannis withdrew his candidacy, IPN reports, with reference to digi24.ro.
Mark Rutte will assume his functions on October 1, 2024, when the term of the current Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expires, according to a NATO statement.
Besides the war in Ukraine and the tense international political context, Mark Rutte will lead the alliance in a difficult period, dominated by the U.S. election and the possibility of a new transfer of power to Washington, if Donald Trump wins the November election.
“Rutte’s good relations with Trump during his previous term may have played a role in support of his candidacy. For example, the Dutch leader is recognized among his European counterparts as the savior of the 2018 NATO summit, when he discussed with Trump the defense spending that the former American President wanted to see increased among Europeans,” digi24.ro noted.
Electing Rutte to the top position in NATO was a difficult process. He had been campaigning for the position since November last year. However, he was criticized for not being active enough in requesting support from Eastern European countries and for the fact that his country reached the threshold of 2% of the GDP for military spending only this year, after the target was set 10 years ago.
Another obstacle was Iohannis’ candidacy for the leadership of NATO, which was initially supported by a number of European countries within the Alliance. In the end, all the member states supported Rutte and Iohannis withdrew his candidacy.
Stoltenberg welcomed the appointment of Rutte as his successor. “Mark is a true transatlanticist, a strong leader and a consensus-builder. I know I’m leaving NATO in good hands,” he said.
Mark Rutte, who will leave the Dutch political arena after almost 14 years as Prime Minister, is a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a staunch ally of Ukraine.
