Choosing a new Secretary General for NATO is like choosing a Pope. Suddenly it’s decided, minus the white smoke. So it can be anything from days to months before it is clear who will take over from Jens Stoltenberg.
– At the latest, I think it will be ready for the summit in Washington, says US NATO Ambassador Julianne Smith.
The meeting in Washington, with the heads of state and government of the 32 NATO countries, is in mid-July.
America’s voice counts most heavily in NATO and the country stands behind Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. So does Great Britain, France and Germany. On Thursday, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) announced that Rutte is also Sweden’s candidate.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who previously aspired to the top job, recently announced that the country supports Mark Rutte.
Some countries are still hesitating. For example, Poland.
– We believe that our region is not sufficiently represented in both the alliance and the EU, as well as in the UN system. We will advocate candidates from our region for high positions in all three organizations, says Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.
This means that Poland would rather see Mark Rutte’s challenger, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, as NATO chief.
Hungary is yet clearer in its stance. In connection with a meeting between NATO’s foreign ministers says Hungary’s Peter Szijjarto that there is no confidence in Rutte given his previous criticism of Hungary. Instead, Szijjarto emphasizes that it is high time for a person from Central or Eastern Europe in the post.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis also wants to become head of NATO. Photo: Lucian Alecu/Shutterstock
Turkey is also expected to be a stumbling block, according to diplomatic sources. Periodically, there have been strained relations between Turkey and the Netherlands. For example banned by the government in The Hague in 2017 a flight with the then foreign minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu from landing when he was to give a speech to exiled Turks in connection with a referendum.
According to one statement by President Erdogan Turkey expects the new head of the security alliance to serve the allies’ needs and interests in counter-terrorism. As well as taking countries that are not members of the EU into account.
Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis announced his interest in the top job as recently as March this year.
Romania is a central country for NATO, but does not live up to the alliance’s requirement to set aside two percent of GDP for defense. Nor does the Netherlands, according to NATO figures for 2023.
When DN asked Mark Rutte about this in November, in connection with his candidacy becoming known, he replied:
– We were too low before, but now we have increased the budget by five billion euros. We will reach 20 billion annually, which is 2 percent.
Facts. Mark Rutte
Born 1967 in The Hague, Netherlands.
Has a university degree in Dutch history.
Worked 1992-2002 with personnel issues within the Unilever Group.
Since 2002, he has held ministerial positions and was a member of parliament for the right-liberal VVD.
In 2010 he was elected Prime Minister.
He resigned in connection with the elections in November 2023, but remains until further notice as the leading parties in the country have failed to form a government.
Since 2008, he has been a guest teacher at a school in The Hague, teaching high school students Dutch and social studies for a few hours each week.
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NATO: Mark Rutte wants to succeed Jens Stoltenberg
