Dutch Prime Minister (PM) Mark Rutte will officially lead NATO to replace Jens Stoltenberg. On Wednesday (26/6/2024), all 32 NATO member countries have agreed to elect Rutte as leader of the alliance. “The North Atlantic Council decided to appoint Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the next Secretary General of NATO, replacing Jens Stoltenberg,” the alliance said in a statement, quoted by AFP.
It was further stated that Rutte would start serving as NATO Secretary General as of October 1. Previously, in the middle of last year, the Dutch PM stated that he would “retire from politics syair hk“.
However, a few months later, the 57-year-old Rutte seemed to have forgotten his intention. He actually indicated his interest in replacing Jens Stoltenberg at NATO. For months, Rutte ran his one-man campaign in secret, trying to win over many heads of state and government. Rutte is a staunch supporter of Ukraine, who quickly managed to gain support from the United States in his campaign, and was later joined by most other NATO member states. Rutte in turn also received support from Hungary. This came after he guaranteed that he would not force Hungary to participate in NATO’s new plan to provide support to Ukraine.
Rutte’s assurances to Hungary, written in a letter to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, remove a major obstacle for Rutte to become the next NATO Secretary General.
