On Wednesday, NATO elected Mark Rutte as the next secretary-general, putting the former Dutch prime minister in charge of the most significant security organization in the world during a sensitive period for European security, given the ongoing fighting in Ukraine. Mark Rutte’s appointment was ratified by NATO ambassadors at a meeting that took place in Brussels, which houses the alliance headquarters and has members totalling 32 countries.
U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders will greet Rutte formally in a summit to be held in Washington on July 9-11. Rutte will succeed Jens Stoltenberg of Norway, who will leave the post on October 1 after over ten years of holding it; his terms were repeatedly prolonged after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“I warmly welcome NATO allies’ choice of Mark Rutte as my successor,” Stoltenberg said, “I wish Mark every success as we continue the mission of making NATO stronger for the challenges of today and tomorrow.” As the secretary-general, Rutte will be in charge of the meetings, and it will be his role to mediate tricky talks between NATO countries because the organisation has a consensus decision-making process. He will also be affected by the responsibility that will entail the implementation of decisions made, as well as being the spokesperson of every member.
As for Rutte, his way to this position was rather smooth even, despite some bureaucratic hurdles, and he had the support of the White House and Germany. His candidacy became prophetic after Romanian President Klaus Iohannis pulled out last week. Despite earlier, Hungary had protested against the appointment of Rutte but later withdrew its block earlier this month when Rutte assured that Budapest would not be in a position to dispatch people or money for a new support plan for Ukraine. This concession facilitated the necessary consensus on the ally’s decision-making needs, which was formally ceded to in the formation of the NATO agreement.
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