Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis withdrew from the race for NATO secretary general, opening the door to the confirmation of Dutchman Mark Rutte, who earlier in the week had already secured the support of Hungary and Slovakia. Two other members of the transatlantic military alliance have expressed reservations about the selection process and have not yet announced their intentions.
Ahead of the July 9-11 summit of NATO heads of state and government in Washington, the U.S.-led allies had already agreed to settle Jens Stoltenberg’s succession issue. Appointed NATO’s Secretary General in 2014, Norway served two terms in 2022 and 2023, following a war of aggression launched by Russia against Ukraine.
All NATO decisions are taken by consensus, so only the Romanian president’s candidacy prevents him from abandoning his executive duties as head of government in the Netherlands after 14 years. The appointment will be officially announced “in the next few days” after the meeting of the North Atlantic Council, and the new secretary-general will take office on October 1. He is the fourth Dutchman to hold the position.
Iohannis announced his departure at the end of a meeting of the Romanian Supreme Security Council, where the transfer of a Patriot anti-aircraft defense system to Ukraine was approved, subject to a guarantee from NATO that a similar system would be used to defend allied territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Romania for the donation, “an important contribution that will strengthen our air defense and help better protect our people and critical infrastructure from Russian air terrorism,” he wrote on social network X. formerly Twitter).
The Romanian Armed Forces, consisting of two patriotic organizations, have so far resisted abandoning the equipment, but have agreed to reconsider their position as “the security situation in Ukraine has significantly deteriorated following Russia’s continuous and massive offensive against the population and civilians,” including the defense of Romania’s “regionally impacting infrastructures,” In a statement cited by Reuters, the Supreme Security Council justified it.
“By putting an end to Russian terrorism now, Ukraine avoids possible aggression against Moldova, Romania, the Baltic states and our neighbors”, Zelensky highlighted, adding that “Ukraine now has the necessary tools to defeat Russian terrorism. No one else will have to face Russia’s aggressive actions in the future.”
Last year, allies failed to reach an agreement on choosing Jens Stoltenberg’s successor ahead of their annual Vilnius summit. Despite the expectations created about the possibility of choosing a woman for the position – the name of Ursula von der Leyen, the current president of the European Commission, was put forward as a hypothesis by the US president – there was only one candidate. Appears: Ben Wallace, the then British defense minister, was unable to convince the remaining allies (mainly France, which insisted on opting for an EU national).
Although there is no written procedure for the appointment of NATO’s Secretary General, since the founding of the alliance a European and military command has been held by a North American (Supreme Allied Commander Europe) or “SACEUR”, in NATO slang, he is always an American general or flag officer who directs all military operations of the alliance).
In the summer of 2023, without consensus among the partners, the settlement was in place The mandate of Jens Stoltenberg, who is still directing the work of the Washington summit to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the signing of the NATO North Atlantic Treaty, should be extended once again. Under Norway’s leadership, elected soon after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, NATO had to shift its focus (and intervention) from fighting terrorism in the Middle East and restore its original mission of deterrence and security. on the eastern border of its European territory.
Despite the differences in “style” between Stoltenberg and Rutte – the Norwegian, restrained and disciplined, and the Dutch, more relaxed and informal – it shows that the coalition is not yet ready to divert its leadership from its Western axis. Take a chance on a personality with no guarantee of maintaining a direct line to the White House.
In charge of NATO’s functioning, the role of the NATO Secretary General is, above all, that of a “facilitator”, capable of bridging the gap between the various Allies’ positions and dialogue to build an inevitable consensus.
This is the greatest asset of Mark Rutte, a politician experienced in negotiating and building coalitions, and who has always successfully handled various North American administrations. The former president of the United States has proven he can reach an understanding with Donald Trump if he is re-elected in November, and the prime minister of the Netherlands has yet to add to his CV. The country’s investment in the defense sector to meet the target of 2% of GDP set at the Wales Summit.
The Netherlands is one of the largest contributors to Ukraine’s war effort, participating in fighter, tank and missile alliances and jointly purchasing munitions.
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