Stoltenberg successor: Will Rutte be the next NATO chief?

Jens Stoltenberg actually wanted to quit as NATO chief. But after Russia’s war of aggression, the military alliance postponed the change of leadership. Now it comes down to the Dutchman Mark Rutte.

For months, no name has been mentioned as often as the successor to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as that of Mark Rutte. In the end, the only thing that spoke against the outgoing Dutch Prime Minister was the unwritten NATO rule, which states that in the end it will not be anyone who was speculated about in advance.

With Rutte the rule is now repealed. First, the British government spoke out in favor of Rutte. Britain strongly supports Rutte, the AFP news agency quoted a government spokesman in London as saying. Rutte enjoys a high reputation in the Western alliance and is qualified to ensure “that the alliance remains strong and ready for defense and deterrence.”

Then Berlin followed. Rutte is an outstanding candidate, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told Reuters and:

Challenge for the next one Secretary General

Rutte himself has been commenting on NATO issues very often and fundamentally for some time, most recently at the security conference in Munich. Former US President Donald Trump’s election campaign threats were the subject of many discussions and associated concerns that Europe would be relatively alone in NATO if the person who understands Putin were to move into the White House again.

It is clear that the Europeans would then have to invest a lot more money in their armies. “We shouldn’t do this because of Trump,” demanded Rutte in Munich, “but because it is in our interest.” There is now a consensus among Europeans that the Europeans must invest more in armaments – even if the Democrat Joe Biden wins again.

In any case, the relationship between Washington and the Europeans in the alliance would then have to be rebalanced – a challenge that will face the new NATO Secretary General.

Decision by July at the latest

Stoltenberg’s successor is expected to be announced in Washington in July at the latest, just in time for the anniversary summit when NATO celebrates its 75th anniversary. Stoltenberg’s contract ends in September.

The Norwegian has already extended his contract twice and was held accountable because of the war in Ukraine. To do this, he even gave up the job he had already agreed to as governor of the Central Bank of Norway. A third extension in Brussels was no longer up for debate.

Rutte himself is confident of the task. In an interview with a Dutch radio station in October, he said that the NATO chief post was a very interesting job for him. But he immediately added that a woman also had a good chance: “That would also be very good.”

Estonia’s Kaja Kallas showed interest

A woman actually had hopes for the job at the top of the Alliance. Kaja Kallas, the Prime Minister of Estonia, has signaled more than once that she would like to be the first Eastern European to take over the leadership of the alliance. At every possible opportunity, she pointed to her country’s relatively high investments in defense compared to NATO and sometimes pointed the finger at her Western partners.

“My people and I observe with a certain concern how little attention is paid to what is currently brewing in the vastness of Russia,” said Kallas at the beginning of the week as a guest speaker at the traditional Matthiae meal in Hamburg. In an interview with the daily topics she demanded at last, to use the frozen property of the Russian State Bank worth several hundred billion dollars to support Ukraine.

In other alliance capitals, such an approach is viewed critically for legal reasons. From the perspective of Western governments, it was precisely this sharp profile that spoke against Kallas. The counterarguments are that they are too emotionally anti-Russian and too fixated on the idea of ​​the collective guilt of the Russian people.

Washington is the deciding factor

The decisive weight in the selection of candidates lies in Washington. Without the American President’s approval, no one will become NATO Secretary General. And Joe Biden also seems to have decided on Rutte.

He supports the Dutchman’s candidacy, the dpa news agency quotes an unnamed representative of the American government. Rutte is “a natural leader, a good communicator and his leadership would be good for the alliance at this critical time.”