Former Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, officially took office as head of NATO, replacing Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, who has held the post for ten years.
Mark Rutte was nominated last June by the 32 member countries of the Atlantic Alliance. His candidacy for the post of Secretary-General quickly won the support of the Alliance’s most important countries, including the United States.
The handover took place at NATO headquarters in Brussels, during a meeting of the Atlantic Council, NATO’s political body which brings together the ambassadors of member countries.
On this occasion, Rutte presented the three priorities of his four-year mandate, namely Ukraine, the strengthening of the alliance’s collective defense and the development of international partnerships with third countries.
According to the outgoing SG, Rutte, who has represented his country at NATO summits for the past 14 years, “has the perfect background to become a great secretary general.”
“He has served as prime minister for 14 years and led four different coalition governments, so therefore he knows how to make compromises, create consensus, and these are skills which are very much valued here at NATO,” Stoltenberg added.
NATO’s new Chief takes office at a time when the organization is facing major challenges, notably the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The SG will also have to deal with the outcome of the American elections in November, as the United States alone accounts for half of the Alliance’s military weight.
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