Rutte to be next NATO chief after Hungary, Romania and Slovakia support him
The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, will be the next secretary general of NATO, once it was revealed that the Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, will withdraw his candidacy and the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, has voiced his objections. , The alliance’s current leader, Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, has already accumulated a record number of extensions to his mandate due to a recurring lack of consensus among the organization’s 33 members. Once the candidacy is formally confirmed, the handover will take place at next month’s summit in Washington.
Rutte is still the acting Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands after a very long political career in this country. During that time he has had many disagreements with other European leaders such as Orban or the Slovak Robert Fico, who took advantage of the fact that the unanimity of all allies is needed to approve the appointment and demanded a personal apology. In the case of the Hungarian leader, who believes that Kiev should reach an agreement with Putin to end the war, he also asked for guarantees that he would not be forced to send troops into Ukraine.
Ioannis, for his part, wanted to put forward the fact that he represents one of the Eastern European countries whose strategic importance is now even greater after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There has also been talk about Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who would also have been the first woman to hold the position. However, the latter has been named to occupy the post of High Representative for European Foreign Policy at an informal meeting of European Council members last Monday. Although they are not formally linked, the closure of the distribution of institutional positions in the EU would facilitate the unblocking of Stoltenberg’s succession.
in the front row
Since the war began, Rutte has been at the forefront of helping the Ukrainians militarily, on par with countries larger than the Netherlands, whether it be with advanced weapons including F-15 fighter jets, ammunition or money. In NATO, the norm is followed according to which the Secretary General is always a European, while the military commander is always a North American.
The possibility that the populist Donald Trump could return to the White House in November is undoubtedly an element that has contributed to hastening the outcome of the Stoltenberg succession, since the decision requires the most complete unanimity and the situation could have been totally unpredictable.
This year’s summit in Washington also marks the 75th anniversary of the organisation, so a proper succession to the post of Secretary General was essential to project an image of firmness and determination in the world’s most important military alliance.
Indeed, the Ukraine war will be the center of discussions among allies who are expected to increase their support for Kiev and make decisions to protect allied territory. Rutte will be the fourth Dutchman to become NATO chief, after Dirk Stikker, Joseph Luns and Hope Scheffer.
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