Rutte, current Prime Minister of the Netherlands, is emerging as the favorite candidate – and the only one so far – to assume the position of Secretary General of NATO. Several countries welcome his candidacy as they prepare to elect a replacement for Jens Stoltenberg, who has led the military organization since 2014 and will leave his position in September. However, Rutte will now have to convince Turkey and Hungary, who have not been so optimistic about his appointment.
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The outgoing prime minister of the Netherlands is emerging as the leader who could serve as the new secretary general of NATO after the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom have expressed their support for the 56-year-old politician.
So far, it is the only official candidate and he has a significant amount of support to become the top head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), at a crucial moment in which the military alliance has been strengthened after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has now completed two years. .
Mark Rutte – professor, historian and Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 – has publicly expressed his interest in commanding NATO, once the current Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, leaves office in September of this year, after three consecutive terms. commanding.
Allies have highlighted the “liberal and Atlanticist” ideas of Rutte, of whom many highlight a fresh style, his love of bicycles and almost perfect English.
Other names like Ben Wallace, former British defense secretary; Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia; Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark; and even the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, They had been dreamed of leading NATO, but none of them formalized their candidacy.
Klaus Iohannispresident of Romania, could be Rutte's only competition after expressing his interest in occupying the position, however, it is not an official candidacy nor on whom bets are being placed at the moment.
Rutte already adds important support from allies
The Dutch politician has been showing himself as a possible candidate for some time. Last week, in Munich, within the framework of the most important Security Conference in the world, the current Prime Minister of the Netherlands had important interventions during the different panels in which more than 400 world leaders were gathered.
During his speeches, Rutte said that the allies of the transatlantic bloc, which is about to meet 75 years of existencemust continue their work and rejected Donald Trump's criticism of the organization, especially when the candidate could win the elections to the White House again.
Statements that apparently have gone down very well in Washington, after the president Joe Biden will support Rutte's candidacy, according to a White House source told the Reuters agency.
A similar situation happened in London, where a spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Rutte has “serious defense and security credentials” to take charge of the Atlantic Alliance.
“The United Kingdom strongly supports the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, to succeed Jens Stoltenberg as Secretary General of NATO. He is highly respected throughout the alliance. (…) NATO is the basis of our collective defense and we deliver tribute to Jens Stoltenberg for his leadership,” the spokesperson said from Downing Street.
From Berlin it is also known that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz supports Rutte's appointment as NATO leader, after highlighting “his immense experience, his great knowledge of security policy and his strong diplomatic skills.” “He is an outstanding candidate,” said a German government spokesman.
In NATO everything works by absolute consensus
The military defense organization of North America and Europe was founded in 1949, a few years after the end of World War II in order to defend its members in case of being attacked militarily.
Since the creation of the alliance, it was agreed that the decisions made must be endorsed by all its members, which to date number 31 States.
Which is why now Rutte, despite having various important supports, will have to concentrate his campaign on convince countries like Türkiye or Hungary, since at the moment they do not seem to be so sure of their appointment.
Ankara has already publicly expressed that Rutte must “offer guarantees” that he will not take sides in the disputes Turkey currently has with Greece and Cyprus, an issue that Rutte had previously referred to.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has delayed Sweden's entry into the Alliance, something that Rutte has criticized and his words in the future could be an obstacle for the Dutch Prime Minister to be elected as a NATO representative.
With EFE, Reuters and local media
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