Bucharest (AFP)
Yesterday, outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte secured the position of next Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at a very important stage for the alliance, after the withdrawal of his only competitor, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.
The alliance’s 32 members are expected to officially name Mark Rutte, the 57-year-old veteran politician, in the coming days.
He is expected to assume the position when the term of current Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg ends on October 1.
His term comes at a risky period for the Western alliance countries, with the continuing war in Ukraine and Donald Trump’s efforts to win the upcoming presidential elections next November.
After announcing his candidacy for the position last year following the collapse of his government coalition, Rutte quickly gained the support of powerful countries such as the United States, Britain, France, and Germany.
But he had to use all the diplomatic skills he acquired during nearly 14 years at the head of the government in the Netherlands to overcome the opponents led by Turkey and Hungary.
Rutte overcame Turkish reservations with a visit to Istanbul last April, before finally reaching an agreement with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the European Union summit this week.
The final sticking point remained with Iohannis after his surprise candidacy upset NATO members who had hoped for a smooth appointment for Rutte before the NATO summit in Washington next month.
Yesterday, the Romanian Security Council announced Iohannis’ official withdrawal and Bucharest’s support for Rutte.
Rutte will have a lot of work to do when he takes over from former Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg, who led the coalition during the most crucial decades since the end of the Cold War.
A few weeks after the start of his four-year term, voters in the United States will cast their votes in decisive elections to choose between current President Joe Biden and Trump.
The possibility of Trump returning to the Oval Office has raised concern among NATO countries, which fear that it may weaken Washington’s role as the superpower as the guarantor of absolute security for Europe.
“I think Mark Rutte is a very strong candidate,” Stoltenberg said during a visit to Washington last Tuesday.
NATO announced this week that 23 out of 32 member states have achieved the alliance’s goal of spending 2% of their gross domestic product on defense.
Rutte will become the fourth Dutchman to lead NATO since its exit from World War II.
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