Estonia ready to support Rutte for NATO Secretary-General position

According to Kallas, Rutte has a chance to become the next Secretary-General of the Alliance. According to her, Estonia has put forward three requirements for the future secretary general. One of them is the candidate's ability to convince all allies to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP.

"It will be easier for someone from a country that has achieved this goal to convince other countries than someone whose country has not reached this target. Another important element for us was the geographical balance. Unfortunately, people from Eastern Europe are not represented in leading positions in NATO," she explains.

Estonia's third criterion is the ability to reach a compromise. According to the Prime Minister, Rutte knows how it works, as he was the leader of the Dutch coalition government.

The Estonian government is ready to support two candidates - both the Prime Minister of the Netherlands and the President of Romania.

Kallas adds that, in addition to the post of NATO Secretary-General, deputy secretaries-general will also be elected. According to the politician, there are many Estonian candidates for these positions.

What preceded it

The current NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly stated that he is going to leave his post. However, this process has been delayed due to, among other things, the war in Ukraine. By the fall of 2023, there were no clear contenders for the post of NATO Secretary-General.

However, at the end of October, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he would be interested in replacing Jens Stoltenberg as NATO Secretary General.

Also, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said she was interested in the post of NATO Secretary-General, and Latvian Foreign Minister Krišjānis Karinš and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis expressed the same desire.

According to Western media, Rutte is leading the race for NATO Secretary-General.