Mark Rutte is now officially Secretary General of the NATO. The former Prime Minister of the Netherlands took over from Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday and set as his main priority at the head of the Atlantic Alliance that Ukraineprevail as a sovereign nation against the Russian invasion, in addition to mobilizing greater defense spending from the allies.
Minutes before taking over the leadership of the organization, the Dutch leader indicated that maintaining support for kyiv was his first priority. “The priorities will continue,” said Rutte, who defended that “we must ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign nationindependent and democratic.
Rutte also listed among his main tasks the increase in collective defense and military spending allies, as well as to go further in the Alliance’s relations with third countries. “One thing that will not change is the core of our organization, which is to ensure that we defend our nations,” he added.
Able to work with Harris and Trump
On the other hand, Rutte also declared this Tuesday that, from his position, he will be able to work both with Kamala Harris as with Donald Trumpwhoever wins the elections next November. “I will be able to work with both whatever the outcome of the election and, of course, I can’t vote, so we’ll see what happens,” he said.
At a press conference with the outgoing secretary general at the transatlantic organization’s headquarters in Brussels, Rutte said don’t worry about the result of the American elections and stressed that he knows the two candidates “very well”.
In Trump’s case, Rutte was prime minister of the Netherlands when the Republican was president of the United States, and the two met at several NATO summits. In this sense, Rutte recognized that Trump pushed Alliance members to spend more on defense and he achieved this goal.
“We are now at a much higher level of spending than when he took office in early 2017,” said Rutte, who also admitted that the former North American president had also pushed the Alliance to pay attention to China. Regarding Harris, he said that She had “a fantastic track record” as vice president and was ranked as. “highly respected” leader.
Stoltenberg assures Rutte ‘has a perfect experience’
Rutte took over from Stoltenberg on Tuesday after allied leaders will confirm your choice as general secretary. Stoltenberg, who leaves office after a decade in which the organization modernized and adopted significant military changes, assured that his successor “has the perfect experience become a great general secretary.
“He is a friend, a good colleague, we have worked together for many years, knows the Alliance well and is well known throughout the Alliance”, he defended. Furthermore, he recalled that Rutte was Prime Minister of the Netherlands for 14 years during which he led four coalitions, so “he knows how to make commitments, create consensus, and these are highly valued” qualities here at NATO.
“NATO will be in good hands with you at the helm. “It makes it easier for me to leave the Alliance, knowing that you are going to take over,” the Norwegian politician said.
