As of: February 22, 2024, 11:08 p.m
By: Patrick Mayer
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Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden vote for Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as NATO Secretary General.
Brussels - Jens Stoltenberg will step down as Secretary General of the transatlantic defense alliance NATO on October 1, 2024.
Then the 64-year-old Scandinavian wants to return to his native Norway, which is preparing for a possible Russian attack in the future.
Scholz and Biden are in favor of Rutte as NATO Secretary General
And any expertise can be used.
As the Ukraine war continues unabatedly brutal, the military alliance needs a new boss.
And this has probably already been found: Mark Rutte, current Dutch Prime Minister, is due to take over in Brussels in the autumn.
This is the opinion of Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and US President Joe Biden.
After Great Britain, both top international politicians clearly spoke out in favor of the 57-year-old Rutte, who is currently only carrying out his office as head of government in Amsterdam in an acting capacity and would then resign.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (left) and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
(Archive photo) © IMAGO/Christian Spicker
Mark Rutte: Chancellor Olaf Scholz praises “immense experience”
“The Chancellor supports the nomination of Mark Rutte as the new Secretary General of NATO,” wrote government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on X (formerly Twitter) this Thursday (February 22): “With his immense experience, his great security policy expertise and his strong diplomatic skills Mark Rutte is an outstanding candidate for the post of NATO Secretary General.”
Biden and Washington also support the Dutchman's candidacy.
Rutte has “a deep understanding of the importance of the alliance”.
He is also a natural leader, a good communicator, and his leadership would be good for the alliance at this critical time, a US government official told the
dpa
news agency .
Jens Stoltenberg's successor: Mark Rutte is applying for a NATO post
Stoltenberg's successor is expected to be announced before a NATO summit in July in Washington, DC.
Rutte actually wanted to withdraw from politics.
However, in October, the veteran diplomat told Dutch media that leading the military alliance was a “very interesting” task that he was open to.
The British government of Rishi Sunak from London had already “strongly” spoken out in favor of Rutte as Stoltenberg’s successor.
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Rutte would take over NATO in extremely difficult and demanding times, marked by Russia's attack on Ukraine, which violated international law.
The Bundeswehr is taking part in the major NATO exercise “Steadfast Defender 24” until May, which is intended to deter Moscow between Norway, the Baltics and Romania.
(dpa/pm)