Strong support for Dutchman Mark Rutte to lead NATO

The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Ruthhas the support of three of the most important countries in the NATO -United States, United Kingdom and Germany- to succeed Jens Stoltenberg as secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, in the middle of the war in Ukraine.

In the absence of agreement between the allies on a replacement, the current secretary-general was re-elected in the summer of 2023 for another year. When he leaves office, the Norwegian will have led the organization for ten years, marked by growing tensions with Russia.

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The name of Rutte, 57, has been circulating for months as his possible successor.

U.S “made it clear to (his) allies” from the NATO that the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Ruth “He would make an excellent general secretary”from the Atlantic Alliance, the National Security Council spokesperson told journalists, John Kirby.

Rutte has already officially received public support from the UK it’s from Germany.

But some of the Alliance’s 31 member states believe the time has come for a woman to lead NATO for the first time. Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallashad expressed his interest.

Rutte, liberal prime minister since 2010, has announced his intention to leave the Dutch political scene but will remain in office pending the formation of a new government.

Negotiations have been at a standstill since the far right won the elections in November.

Rutte has several strengths: he has established ties with several European leaders and has a good relationship with the former US president. donald trumpwhose possible return to The White House After the November elections, he haunts the corridors of NATO in Brussels.

Mark Rutte did not hesitate to publicly contradict him during a visit to the White House.

Another of NATO’s criteria is that the candidate’s country of origin has a strong commitment to defense.

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Member States have committed to dedicating 2% of their The gross domestic product (GDP) to defense, an objective that the Netherlands is approaching, mainly thanks to Rutte.

NATO diplomats consider a compromise on this issue essential if Donald Trump returns to power.

The latter asked the allies several times to increase their defense spending, because otherwise the United States would reduce its own or even abandon the Alliance.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.