Dutch politician Mark Rutte, who has led the Dutch government for the past 14 years, will now continue his international career as the new Secretary General of NATO, replacing Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg.
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On Wednesday, NATO confirmed Mark Rutte as the alliance’s secretary general.
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To be appointed to NATO’s top position, it was necessary to obtain support from all 32 member countries of the alliance. Rutte’s candidacy was initially immediately supported by the largest players – the USA, Great Britain, Germany and France.
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However, four countries – Türkiye, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania – had their doubts until the last moment. However, the Dutch prime minister managed to get Turkey’s approval: to do this, he even flew to Istanbul on a commercial flight to convince the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to change his position.
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He then secured the support of Hungary and Slovakia. As reported by the media, he promised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that if he becomes NATO Secretary General, Hungary will have the right to refuse to participate in the alliance’s activities outside its territory in support of Ukraine. The matter remained with Romania, but in the end it also agreed with the Dutchman’s candidacy.
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Until his new appointment, Rutte served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands. He first took this position in 2010, when the conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which he led at that time, became the largest in the country based on the results of parliamentary elections. Since then, under the leadership of Mark Rutte, four cabinets have been formed in a row in the Netherlands. His premiership lasted almost 14 years, which is the longest period in the history of the Netherlands.
