With Romania's president withdrawing from the race to become NATO's next secretary general, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is all set to be the head of the world’s largest military alliance from October.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis's office in a statement said that Romania's security council has backed Rutte's bid. It also added that Iohannis had informed NATO late last week that he intended to pull out from the race.
Rutte was long considered to be the frontrunner for the job as he is viewed as an experienced politician and known for his pro-Ukranian stands. However, initially, he had faced initial opposition from Hungary's PM Viktor Orbán. On the sidelines of an EU leaders’ meet, Rutte had held a meeting with Orban earlier this week. After the meeting, Orban dropped his objections in return for certain assurances from the Dutch leader.
"We reached an important agreement with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. We agreed that no Hungarian personnel will take part in the activities of NATO in Ukraine and no Hungarian funds will be used to support them,” Orban said.
“Our next step this week was to ensure that this agreement can stand the test of time. After yesterday’s meeting in Brussels, PM Mark Rutte confirmed that he fully supports this deal and will continue to do so, should he become the next Secretary General of NATO...In light of his pledge, Hungary is ready to support PM Rutte’s bid for NATO Secretary-General," Orban wrote.
Nato consists of 32 member states from Europe and North America.
Who is Mark Rutte?
Born in February 1967, Rutte has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010. His political journey began in 2002 as a member of Jan Peter Balkenende's cabinets. Rutte won the VVD leadership election in 2006 and led the party to victory in the 2010 general election.
As far as his education, Rutte attended the Maerlant Lyceum from 1979 until 1985, specialising in the arts. He obtained his MA degree from Leiden University. He then stepped into the business world and worked as a manager for Unilever.
Rutte served as deputy minister at the Social Affairs and Employment Ministry from 22 July 2002 to 17 June 2004 in the First and Second Balkenende cabinets.
After the 2003 elections, Rutte was also a member of the House of Representatives, from 30 January to 27 May 2003.
Rutte later served as State Secretary for Higher Education and Science, within the Education, Culture and Science Ministry, replacing Annette Nijs, from 17 June 2004 to 27 June 2006, in the Second Balkenende cabinet.