Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
Mark Rutte, seen as the next NATO secretary general, is a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a staunch ally of Ukraine who honed his skills as a political dealmaker during nearly 14 years as Dutch prime minister.
Ruta, 57, has been one of the driving forces behind Europe’s military support for Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, and says a battlefield defeat for Moscow is essential to ensuring peace in Europe.
His view is largely influenced by the downing of a passenger plane over Ukraine in 2014, which the Netherlands blames on Russia, in which 196 of the 298 victims were Dutch. NATO must be strong to deal with Moscow, and other EU leaders must not be naive about Putin’s Russia, he says.
“He won’t stop in Ukraine if we don’t stop him now. This war is bigger than Ukraine itself. It’s about upholding the international rule of law,” Rota told the United Nations in September 2022, seven months after Russia’s all-out invasion.
Rutte first took office in 2010 and went on to become the Netherlands’ longest-serving prime minister before announcing last year that he planned to leave national politics.
After the downing of flight MH17, it went from a mainly domestic focus to one of the EU’s main deal makers, playing an important role in European debates on immigration, debt and the response to COVID-19.
Under his leadership, the Netherlands has increased defense spending to more than the two percent threshold of GDP required of NATO members, has provided F-16s, artillery, drones and ammunition to Kiev and is investing heavily in its military.
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His path to replace Jens Stoltenberg, who is stepping down as NATO chief in October after nearly a decade at the helm, became all but certain after Romania’s president withdrew his candidacy. Ruta already had the backing of the other 31 countries in the 32-nation alliance.
Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that Rota was a “very strong” candidate to replace him and a decision was imminent.
Under Stoltenberg, who joined a few months after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, the alliance added Montenegro, North Macedonia, Finland and Sweden as new members.
Some members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had hoped that Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kalas would become the first woman to lead NATO, but others saw her as too hawkish on Russia.
Rutte will officially step aside as prime minister when the recently formed right-wing Dutch government replaces his centre-right coalition.
Rota, who is unmarried, has lived all his life in The Hague and hinted that he might enjoy teaching after politics. But he cited the war in Ukraine as a reason to seek an international role as he set his sights on the NATO leadership.
He is a strong supporter of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he recalls meeting in Kyiv five years ago.
“It was clear even then: this is a man with a mission… I am convinced that the success of Ukraine depends to a large extent on the mentality he transmitted from the beginning,” Rota told Reuters in April.
However, even while warning of the threat posed by Putin, he suggested that the Russian leader is not as strong as he appears.
“Don’t overestimate Putin mentally. I’ve talked to the man a lot. He’s not a strong man, he’s not a strong guy,” Ruta said in a debate with parliament in April.
Ruta strengthened his bid to become NATO’s new commander last year, leading an international coalition to deliver F-16s to Ukraine and train Ukrainian pilots.
In his final months in office, he also signed a 10-year security agreement with Ukraine, securing support from the Netherlands despite criticism from far-right leader and election winner Geert Wilders.
Ruta has established good relations with various British and US leaders and is considered one of the most successful in the EU in dealing with US President Donald Trump, who is up for re-election.
That could prove a valuable experience, as Trump’s possible return has troubled NATO leaders since the former president questioned the U.S.’s willingness to support other members of the defense alliance if attacked.
At last year’s annual Munich Security Conference, Ruta said leaders should stop “whining and whining about Trump,” and spend more on defense and munitions production, regardless of who wins the US election.
-Reporting by Bart Meyer, Anthony Deutsch and Charlotte Van Kempenhout; Edited by Timothy Heritage, Sharon Singleton and Andrew Havens
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
source link https://globalnews.ca/news/10578991/mark-rutte-next-nato-secretary-general/
