Long-serving Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was formally appointed as NATO’s new secretary-general on Wednesday, naming an experienced leader with a strong pro-Ukrainian reputation for conciliation at the helm of the alliance.
Rutte, 57, will succeed Jens Stoltenberg on October 1 at a difficult time for NATO as it faces Russia’s war in Ukraine and a tight race in the U.S. presidential election, in which Donald J. ·Donald J. Trump may be elected.
NATO ambassadors signed the decision at a meeting at the 32-nation alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, removing a potentially contentious issue from next month’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington.
President Biden and NATO leaders will formally welcome Mr Rutte to the summit starting on July 9.
Rutte has long been Biden’s favored candidate, having served as prime minister of the Netherlands four times over nearly 14 years and building complex coalitions through debate and compromise. These skills should serve him well in a coalition that operates by consensus, in which one country can thwart the intentions of others.
Rutte rejected at least one of Biden’s requests for a NATO position, forcing the alliance to extend Stoltenberg’s term for another year.
Rutte, currently serving as caretaker prime minister until the new Dutch government is sworn in, is known as a hard worker and affable boss. The son of a car dealer, he was a man of habit, having lived in the same modest house with the same furnishings for the past thirty years.
Caroline de Gruyter, Europe correspondent for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, writes that every summer he rents the same house with his family and spends several nights in New York with the same friend every year. Day, staying in the same shabby hotel in Chinatown.
He is also known for riding his bike to work, a habit that will have to change as his new job will require him to endure significantly increased security wherever he goes. He also had to give up the weekly social studies classes he had taught for many years at a high school in The Hague.
Rutte will take over as NATO struggles to find a way to reassure Ukraine of its long-term commitment to its security, which faces increasing pressure from Russia after more than two years of war.
Allies are also concerned that Trump, who has been openly hostile to NATO and some of its leaders, could regain the presidency, even though Rutte got along well with Trump when he was in office.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in February, Rutte told Europeans to “stop complaining, whining and nagging at Trump” and instead act in their own interests by strengthening their military and producing more ammunition for Ukraine. .
Americans will decide the next president, he said, adding: “I’m not an American, I can’t vote in America. We have to work with whoever is on the dance floor.”
Rutte is the favorite of Nato’s largest nation, but he needs unanimous consent. He essentially sealed the secretary-general position last week when he agreed to abide by a compromise struck between Stoltenberg and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Hungary’s illiberal democracy championed by Mr Orban has been a source of tension for years with the EU’s longest-serving leaders, including Rutte.
Rutte assured Orban, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and who believes Ukraine should negotiate a solution with Moscow, that Hungarian personnel would not participate in the NATO mission to support Ukraine and that Hungary would not provide any funding.
Another skeptical Slovakia then agreed to back Rutte, and the final hurdle was cleared when the Romanian president gave up his own bid to become the leader of the alliance.
Rutte’s view of the Kremlin was deeply affected by the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014. A Russian anti-aircraft missile provided by the Russian military to separatist forces killed 298 people, 196 of whom were Dutch.
In September 2022, seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Rutte told the United Nations about Putin: “If we don’t stop him now, he will not stop in Ukraine. This war is bigger than Ukraine itself. This is to safeguard the international rule of law. He described Putin as “cold, cruel and ruthless”.
Under Rutte, the Netherlands increased military spending to above the 2% of GDP required by NATO members and provided Kiev with F-16 fighter jets, artillery, drones and ammunition, while increasing its military investment in the country’s military.
Known in the Netherlands as “Teflon Mark” for his ability to make compromises and get out of trouble, he will find his skills put to the test in his new role, especially since it is not the job of the NATO Secretary-General to lead the massive and A diverse alliance, but keeping it together.
