photo: nato.int
Pictured from left to right: General Christopher G. Cavoli (Supreme Allied Commander Europe) with Lieutenant Admiral Rob Bauerem (Chairman of the NATO Military Committee) and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
The former Dutch prime minister succeeds Jens Stoltenberg at a time when two of the Alliance's major powers, the United States and France, are experiencing great uncertainty. The allies are due to hold a summit in Washington on 9 July.
Anniversary and a brand new Secretary General. In Washington, where the annual two-day North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit begins on Tuesday evening, 9 July, 32 allies will celebrate 75 years of the European continent's defence architecture. At the same time, they will celebrate the appointment of 57-year-old Mark Rutte as Secretary-General, which took place by consensus on 26 June. The liberal former Dutch prime minister will take over from Nor Jens Stoltenberg, who spent a decade at the helm of NATO, on 1 October.
For a year and a half, the President of the United States has wanted to entrust the reins of the organisation to this politician who has experience in compromise and is able to make concessions so that the allies can find common ground. "Joe Biden has twice asked him to run for the job," a US source close to the White House confided. Mark Rutte, however, stubbornly refused. In the summer of 2023, after announcing the resignation of his government, he told the US administration that if the president asked him again, his answer would be different.
This appointment did not go smoothly. While his main allies, Paris, Berlin and London, were quick to support him, the Dutch leader had to convince Ankara and Budapest, two capitals with which the former Dutch prime minister did not have good relations. Recep Tayyip Erdogan quickly agreed, but Viktor Orbán kept up the tension until mid-June, when Jens Stoltenberg reached an agreement to exempt Hungary from funding the military support package for Ukraine that NATO wants to introduce this autumn. At the same time, Mark Rutte confirmed to Viktor Orbán that if he becomes secretary-general he will respect this agreement.
lemonde.fr/nato.int/gnews.cz-jav_07
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/226799.htm
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