Mark Rutte, the long- helping French PM, was officially named the new secretary general of Nato on Wednesday, putting an expert, highly pro- Ukraine leader with a reputation for conciliation at the head of the alliance. On October 1, Rutte, 57, will succeed Jens Stoltenberg, who is running for president in a race for the presidency in which Donald Trump, who disparages the empire, will be elected again. This will be hard for Nato at this time, with Russia’s war against Ukraine and a close race for the presidency.
The choice, sealed by Nato ambassadors during a conference at the 32- state group’s headquarters in Brussels, removes a possible contentious issue from the alliance’s 75th anniversary meeting second month in Washington. At a conference that will take place on July 9th, US President Biden and his Nato counterparts will formally allowed Rutte to the table.
Long a favorite of Biden for the article, Rutte served as the Dutch PM four days, for almost 14 times, building complicated coalitions through discussion and compromise. In an alliance where one nation has the power to veto others ‘ purposes, those abilities should be beneficial for him.
Rutte turned down Biden’s demand that he get the Nato work at least once before, forcing the alliance to expand Stoltenberg’s name for an additional year.
Rutte is known as a hard worker but a friendly manager, now serving as a caregiver PM before a new French state is sworn in. A person of practice, the son of a vehicle dealer, he has lived in the same respectable house, with the same equipment, for the past 30 years. Every summer, he rents the same home with family members and spends a few days each year in New York with the same companion, staying in the same moderate resort in Chinatown, wrote Caroline de Gruyter, Europe editor for the French magazine NRC Handelsblad, in Foreign Policy.
He is also known for taking his bicycle to work, a habit that will need to change as he works and must deal with much greater security wherever he goes. Additionally, he will have to retake the social studies class that he has been taking every week for the past four years at a high school in The Hague.
Rutte will succeed Nato in trying to persuade Ukraine of its long-term commitment to its security at a time when the nation is under increased Russian pressure after more than two years of conflict. Despite how well-liked Trump was to some of its leaders during his term in office, allies are concerned that Trump, who has publicly criticized them, may win the presidency.
Rutte urged Europeans to” stop moaning and whining and nagging about Trump” in a speech at the Munich Security Conference in February, saying that they should instead act in their own interests by strengthening their militaries and creating more weapons for Ukraine. Americans will decide the next president, he said, adding:” I’m not an American, I cannot vote in the US. We must collaborate with anyone who is dancing on the floor.
The shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, which left 196 Dutch people dead among the 298 people killed by a Russian antiaircraft missile that had been given to separatist forces by the Russian military, profoundly altered Rutte’s opinion of the Kremlin. In Sept 2022, Rutte told the UN of Prez Putin:” He wo n’t stop at Ukraine if we do n’t stop him now. Greater than just Ukraine itself, this war. It’s about upholding the international legal system. He has described Putin as” coldhearted, brutal, merciless”. Under Rutte, the Netherlands has increased military spending to over 2 % of GDP demanded of Nato members, and it has provided F- 16s, artillery, drones and ammunition to Kyiv while investing more in its own military. nyt
