Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte wins race for Nato top job

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte is set to become the next Nato chief after his only rival dropped out of the leadership race.

Mr Rutte will become the secretary-general of the alliance in October after Romanian president Klaus Iohannis withdrew from the contest.

The 57-year-old has been one of the driving forces behind Europe’s military support for Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, and says defeat on the battlefield for Moscow is vital to secure peace in Europe.

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He will replace Norway’s former prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, who has run the US-led military alliance since 2014 and had his term extended four times.

Although he is a critic of Vladimir Putin, Mr Rutte is perceived as less hawkish than possible candidates from central and eastern Europe, making him a near consensus choice.

“He won’t stop at Ukraine if we don’t stop him now. This war is bigger than Ukraine itself. It’s about upholding the international rule of law,” Mr Rutte told the United Nations in September 2022.

Romania will back Mr Rutte and donate one of its two operational Patriot missile systems to Ukraine on condition that allies replace it with a similar air-defence system, Bucharest’s Supreme Defence Council said.

Earlier in the week Mr Rutte persuaded Viktor Orbán to support his bid, overcoming years of tensions between the EU’s two longest serving leaders.

Mr Orbán said: “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.”

Mr Rutte is a strong supporter of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he recalled meeting in Kyiv five years ago.

“It was clear even then: this is a man with a mission. I am convinced that Ukraine’s success largely depends on the mentality he conveyed from the very beginning,” he said in April.

By contrast, even while warning of the threat posed by Putin, he has suggested the Russian leader is not as strong as he seems.

“Don’t mentally overestimate Putin. I’ve talked to the man a lot. He’s not a strong man, he’s not a strong guy,” Mr Rutte said earlier this year.