The way is clear for the appointment of Mark Rutte as the next Secretary General of NATO after months of blockade. Romania was the last member of the alliance to announce that it would give up its opposition to the outgoing Dutch head of government giving the top post to him.
Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis withdrew his own candidacy, as the presidential office in Bucharest announced. At the same time, Romania now supports Rutte’s candidacy.
Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey had already taken this step. For a long time, these three countries and Romania were the only NATO states to block the appointment of 57-year-old Rutte as Jens Stoltenberg’s successor. This requires consensus among all members of the defense alliance.
Hungary gave up its resistance after Rutte responded to the country’s specific demands. One of these was that Hungary did not want to be pressured into participating in a planned NATO mission to coordinate arms deliveries to Ukraine. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government is warning against a direct confrontation with Russia.
Until recently, Romania had its own candidate in the race for the top job, President Iohannis. In alliance circles, there was speculation that Iohannis was primarily interested in being offered another top international post as an alternative. The Romanian’s second term in office ends in the autumn and he cannot then run again.
Rutte is considered an experienced foreign policy maker
The contract of the current NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg runs until October 1st. He has announced several times in the past that he wants to give up the post. Last summer, however, attempts by member states to agree on a successor failed again. At the time, possible candidates to succeed Stoltenberg included Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the then British Defense Minister Ben Wallace. Stoltenberg has now held the job for almost ten years. This makes him the second longest-serving Secretary General in the history of the alliance. The longest-serving secretary general in the alliance was previously the Dutchman Joseph Luns, the highest international official in the alliance. He served from 1971 to 1984.
Alliance circles say it is very likely that Rutte could be officially presented as Stoltenberg’s successor as early as next week. Rutte is considered to be an extremely experienced foreign policy maker. He was most recently head of government of the Netherlands for almost 14 years, longer than anyone before him and thus one of the longest-serving in the EU.