Outgoing liberal Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Thursday clinched the race to become the next head of NATO after sole challenger Romanian President Klaus Iohannis pulled out.
Rutte, 57, who was ousted by Dutch voters in the last election after leading the country for almost 14 years, is being rewarded with a better post, in a well-established European tradition of kicking failed politicians upstairs. He is expected to be formally named by NATO’s 32 nations in the coming days and should take over when current chief Jens Stoltenberg’s term ends on October 1st.
After staking his claim for the job last year following the Dutch voters’ rejection of his coalition government, staunch Ukraine hardliner Rutte quickly won the support of heavyweights the United States, Britain, France, and Germany.
Other alliance members, however, were not as easily convinced. Eastern and Central European alliance members had pushed for one of their own to get the NATO job. To date, all secretaries-general have been from Western Europe.
Rutte overcame Turkish reticence with an April visit to Istanbul, before finally sealing a deal with Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Slovakian President Peter Pellegrini at a European Union summit this week.
That left the last sticking point as Iohannis, whose surprise bid had ruffled feathers among allies who were banking on a smooth appointment for Rutte ahead of a NATO summit in Washington next month.
Romania’s security council on Thursday announced Iohannis had formally withdrawn and that the country backed Rutte.
Dubbed “Teflon Mark” for his ability to remain in power for so long in the Netherlands, Rutte will become the fourth Dutchman to lead NATO since it emerged from the ashes of World War II to confront the Soviet Union.
