US, UK and Germany endorse Dutch PM Mark Rutte as
next Nato chief
Other members have signalled they would back Dutch
leader as alliance faces major challenges
Lili Bayer
in Brussels
Thu 22 Feb
2024 17.28 CET
The US, UK
and Germany have endorsed the candidacy of the Dutch prime minister, Mark
Rutte, to become the next secretary general of Nato, at a time when the
alliance faces major challenges amid Russia’s war in Ukraine and renewed
questions about the future of the US commitment to the transatlantic
relationship.
“President
Biden strongly endorses PM Rutte’s candidacy to be the next secretary general
of Nato,” a US official told Reuters on Thursday.
A UK
official said London “strongly backs” Rutte to succeed Jens Stoltenberg. “Rutte
is well respected across the alliance, has serious defence and security
credentials and will ensure that the alliance remains strong and ready to
defend and deter.”
Many other
Nato members have signalled they would back the Dutch leader for the post,
which requires unanimous support from all alliance members. On Thursday
afternoon, a spokesperson for the German government said the chancellor, Olaf
Scholz, also supported Rutte’s candidacy.
Rutte is
one of Europe’s longest-serving heads of government, having been prime minister
since 2010, and is considered a safe pair of hands who could be well positioned
to grapple with the challenges of Donald Trump’s possible return to the White
House.
Trump
recently said he would not defend Nato allies that did not meet defence
spending targets, renewing concerns in Europe about the strength of the
transatlantic security alliance.
Rutte,
speaking at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, made a thinly
veiled campaign declaration for the Nato job, saying that members should “stop
moaning and whining and nagging about Trump” and “we have to work with whoever
is on the dancefloor”.
A senior
diplomat, however, cautioned that Rutte’s candidacy was not a done deal and
that his endorsement by big countries did not mean all allies were onboard.
Turkey and
Hungary, who in recent months have delayed key Nato decisions in other areas,
have yet to say whether they support Rutte.
Supporters
say the Dutch leader is one of the best connected politicians on the European
stage as well as a low-key politician, known for cycling to meetings and
teaching social studies at a local school. He has reportedly lived in the same
modest house in The Hague for years and prides himself on never trading in the
second-hand Saab he has had for more than a decade.
One Dutch
official said: “Rutte’s strength lies in three things: his people skills, his
pragmatic mind and his Nokia (recently an iPhone).
“A
convinced Atlanticist and admirer of [Winston] Churchill, his phone book by now
spans two generations of world leaders beyond the confines of the western world
and with whom he has forged bonds and maintains good contact – also in private,
even after their departure. [The former German chancellor Angela] Merkel and
Rutte still meet up,” the official said.
“He had a
great bond with [the former US president Barack] Obama but also maintained
constructive ties with Trump. And whilst his domestic legacy is now perhaps
called into question, his international credentials are excellent.”
After the
collapse of his government last year, Rutte stepped down as leader of the
People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and said he would leave
politics.
The long
Rutte era came to an end amid the increasing popularity of anti-establishment
parties, culminating in far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) coming first in an
election in November.
Over the
past months Rutte has served as caretaker prime minister while coalition talks
drag on and he has remained highly active in European politics – leading to
growing speculation at Nato HQ that he was in the running for the top job.
In recent
years there has been a push to diversify the leadership of Nato, which has
always been held by men from western Europe. Some officials had hoped the
alliance would finally have a female leader, or someone from its eastern flank.
Stoltenberg,
who has been the secretary general since 2014, is Norwegian, while his
immediate predecessor, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is Danish. Dutch officials have
already held the post three times – in 1961-64, 1971-84 and 2004-09.
Early on,
as officials speculated about Stoltenberg’s successor, the Estonian prime
minister, Kaja Kallas, was floated for the role. The Latvian foreign minister
and former prime minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, has recently also expressed an
interest.
Given
Russia’s war and the highly sensitive nature of the job, which requires
speaking on behalf of a large number of countries and building consensus, some
governments have indicated that they see Baltic candidates as too hawkish for
the role.
Romania’s
president, Klaus Iohannis, has also been mentioned as a possible contender.
Other names floated earlier in the race – including the UK’s Ben Wallace –
failed to garner enthusiasm.
Russia’s
war has shifted allies’ priorities – including when it comes to criteria for
leadership.
“[It is
not] geography [that] matters most,” said one senior European diplomat. “We
need a candidate who can unite, who would pay the greatest attention to strong
defence and deterrence policy, who is capable and willing to work on sustaining
and stepping up military support to Ukraine.”
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