Bruxelles: One of Nato’s longest serving top leaders, secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, stepped down on Tuesday, handing over the reins to original Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the military alliance confronts some of the biggest problems in its history.
The two gentlemen, who initially sat up at Nato’s board 14 years ago as the rulers of Norway and the Netherlands, greeted each other warmly outside the group’s Brussels offices, before laying a flower to fallen military officers, surrounded by the banners of the 32 member countries.
As he came to an end in ten years in office, Stoltenberg declared,” Mark has the perfect background to become a great secretary general.”
” He has served as prime minister for 14 years and led four different coalition governments, so therefore he knows how to make compromises, create consensus, and these are skills which are very much valued here at Nato”, Stoltenberg said.
Rutte stated that he” cannot wait to get to work.”
Stoltenberg helped his successor get started by giving him a Viking gavel to use when chairing meetings after hundreds of Nato staff members applauded the two men as they entered the great hall where meetings are held at the level of ambassadors, ministers, or leaders.
Rutte stated that his top priorities would be strengthening alliances with other nations, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, and increasing defense spending as well as strengthening Ukraine’s support as the war is currently in its third year.
Rutte also stressed the importance of maintaining a strong transatlantic relationship between the United States, Canada, and Europe, and expressed confidence in his ability to collaborate with any candidate for president.
The US election in November is thought to be a close race, according to surveys. Donald Trump’s bluster during his final term of office about low defense spending among European allies and Canada could have led to his return.
As smaller members feared that the US would renege on Nato’s security pledge that all nations must come to the rescue of any ally in trouble, the foundation on which the alliance is built, it turned into an existential problem.
But Rutte said:” I know both candidates very well”. He applauded Trump for urging Nato allies to spend more money and for limiting their policy toward China. He also praised Vice President Kamala Harris ‘ “fantastic record” and called her” a highly respected leader.”
” I’ll have access to both,” I promised. Whatever is the outcome of the election”, Rutte said.
Stoltenberg, Nato’s 13th secretary-general, took over in 2014, the year that “little green men” from Russia infiltrated Ukraine. Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula, causing the world’s largest security alliance to increase its defense budget as he led a growing pace during his term.
Only Joseph Luns, a Dutch diplomat who spent 12 years in charge of Nato, could have surpassed him in terms of his tenure.
Nato secretaries-general run the HQ, drive the alliance’s working agenda and speak on behalf of the 32-nation organization with one unifying voice. When they start their jobs, continuity is typically the first word.
Rutte becomes Nato’s top civilian official as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches the 1, 000-day mark.
” There can be no lasting security in Europe without a strong, independent Ukraine”, he said in his first speech on taking office, and he affirmed a commitment made by the organization’s leaders in 2008 that “Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato”.
In eastern Ukraine, Russian forces are advance. The Kursk region in Russia has a shaky hold on the Ukraine’s army, which has given it a temporary boost in morale, but as the casualties mount, it continues to be outgunned and undermanned.
Rutte will have to find new ways to persuade the allies to support Ukraine, whose ranks have soared to 32 nations since the invasion as Finland and Sweden joined to ask Russia for protection under the umbrella of NATO’s security.
Trump has criticized US aid to Ukraine, and he suggested last week that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the country’s president, should have made concessions to Vladimir Putin prior to his 2022 invasion.
Ukraine’s Nato membership remains a distant prospect. Several member countries, led by the US and Germany, believe that Ukraine should not join the alliance while it’s fighting a war.
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Nato’s longtime chief hands over to former Dutch premier Mark Rutte
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