There was no longer any real suspense since Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, gave his agreement on Monday June 17, on the sidelines of the European Council. Mark Rutte, the current 57-year-old Dutch Prime Minister, will become the next Secretary General of NATO and will take over this fall from Jens Stoltenberg, who will complete ten years at the head of the Atlantic Alliance.
After Mr. Orban’s agreement, Klaus Iohannis, the Romanian president, officially withdrew his own candidacy for head of the Atlantic Alliance on Thursday June 20 and gave his support to the Dutch leader. On Tuesday, Slovakia also confirmed its support for Mr. Rutte’s candidacy for NATO.
The thirty-two allies of the transatlantic organization will officially give their blessing next week to the new elected official during the usual meeting of NATO ambassadors. As there is no written appointment procedure in the North Atlantic Treaty, the Croatian ambassador, in office in this circle since 2017, will ask his colleagues if they all support this candidacy. Without opposition, Mr Rutte will be appointed Secretary General for a four-year term starting on 1er october.
Several names have been circulated
The search for a successor to Mr. Stoltenberg will have been extremely long and difficult. In February 2022, a few months before the end of his second term as NATO Secretary General, Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine. The allies, and the first of them, the United States, had therefore asked Mr. Stoltenberg to remain in his post for one, then finally two, additional years, to preside over the strengthening of the eastern flank of the Alliance, and to support from Ukraine.
During these two years, several names have been circulating to replace the Norwegian, from Mette Fredriksen, the current Danish Prime Minister, to her Estonian counterpart Kaja Kallas, including various lesser-known candidates such as former British Defense Minister Ben Wallace. .
While Mr. Rutte announced his resignation from the Dutch government in the summer of 2023 – he has since led a government of current affairs – he appeared from the fall as the ideal candidate to replace Mr. Stoltenberg. Although he is not a specialist in defense issues, his longevity in power, his interpersonal skills and his knowledge of compromise have been all assets.
Very Atlanticist
This liberal close to Emmanuel Macron quickly obtained the support of the countries of “quad”, this informal club of the most important members of the Alliance – Germany, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. In addition to Mr. Orban’s Hungary, he was able to convince all the other allies, including Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey, although not very enthusiastic about the idea of appointing a Dutchman again – the fourth in seventy-five years – to the head of the organization.
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