New NATO Secretary General: Who is Mark Rutte and what's his stance on Ukraine

Contents

• New NATO Secretary General takes office
• What we know about Mark Rutte
• A loyal ally? Rutte's position on the war in Ukraine

New NATO Secretary General takes office

This summer, it became known that Mark Rutte would become the new Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. After lengthy negotiations and overcoming the disagreement of Hungary, Türkiye, and Slovakia, his candidacy was supported by all allies.

Rutte takes office in the Alliance on the day his predecessor Jens Stoltenberg's term expires - October 1, 2024. Several events are planned to mark the occasion at NATO headquarters in Brussels:

• at 10:00 (Kyiv time), an official ceremony with laying flowers will begin with Rutte and Stoltenberg making a joint appearance;
• at 11:00 - transfer of authority in the North Atlantic Council;
• 11:35 a.m. - short addresses to the staff by the new and former Secretaries General;
• at 12:30 - press conference of Mark Rutte as NATO Secretary General.

Photo: Rutte will take over as NATO Secretary General on October 1, 2024 (Getty Images)

The new Secretary General will serve for at least the next 4 years, but his term of office may be extended by agreement of all parties.

For example, Jens Stoltenberg led the Alliance for 10 years after 4 extensions. The last time his term was extended to maintain NATO's stability amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

What we know about Mark Rutte

The new NATO Secretary General is 57 years old. He was born in The Hague (Netherlands) into a large family, the youngest of 7 children. His father worked for a trading company and his mother was a secretary.

He dreamed of becoming a musician at a young age, but he entered Leiden University and received a master's degree in history. During his studies, he was involved in social activities.

He took an active part in the youth movement of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, and even headed it for 3 years. In the early 1990s, he was the chairman of the party's council.

For some time, Mark Rutte worked for Unilever Corporation, as a human resources manager in one of its subsidiaries. He did not abandon political activity. He was an observer for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in the 2002 elections.

Later, he held the positions of Minister of Social Affairs and Employment and Minister of Education, Culture and Science.

In 2006, he became the leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, and in 2010 was appointed Prime Minister of the Netherlands. He was re-elected 4 times, and in total, Mark Rutte was head of government for almost 14 years (2010-2024).

Photo: Rutte was the prime minister of the Netherlands for 14 years (Getty Images)

During his political career, the Dutch prime minister has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to lead various coalitions and settle political disputes. Reuters wrote that Rutte was called 'Teflon Mark' for his pragmatism and ability to find consensus on complex issues.

Mark Rutte has long been supported by Jens Stoltenberg, who called him his “close friend” and “a strong candidate for the post of the new NATO Secretary General.” The Dutch politician has also established relations with US President Joe Biden and other members of the Alliance.

He also became one of the few European leaders who tried to maintain stable relations with Donald Trump. According to Politico, Rutte earned the nickname 'Trump whisperer' after he was able to calm the then-American leader in 2018 when he complained about insufficient defense spending by NATO's European allies.

At the same time, Trump's possible return to the US presidency after the November 2024 election could be one of the main challenges for Rutte as NATO Secretary General, as Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism about the Alliance.

Among other challenges for the new Secretary General, Politico names:

• ensuring that allies comply with demands for increased defense spending;
• overcoming the dissatisfaction of NATO's eastern flank (the Baltic states), which may require increased representation in the Alliance;
• the need to convince not only Trump, if he becomes the next US president, but also European politicians of NATO's viability;
• and one of the most important tasks is to counter Russian aggression and support Ukraine.

You can read more about how Rutte came to his new position and what challenges he will face in a separate article.

A loyal ally? Rutte's position on the war in Ukraine

Mark Rutte has been supporting Ukraine since the beginning of the war and has been sharply criticizing Russian leader Vladimir Putin. According to Reuters, the Dutch politician is a loyal ally of Ukraine and a supporter of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He began to actively oppose the actions of Russia after the crash of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing-777 in the skies over the Donetsk region in 2014, as most of the victims of the tragedy were Dutch citizens.

During the full-scale invasion of Russia, as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Rutte was one of the initiators of the fighter jet coalition. The Netherlands was the first country to transfer F-16s to Ukraine in July 2024. Mark Rutte also supported coalitions to supply tanks, strengthen air defense, etc.

Regarding Ukraine's membership in NATO, Mark Rutte says that there is a prospect of accession, but it is impossible to say when it will happen.

“We have said before that there is such a prospect. The only question is, what is the next step? What we will come to, in any case, I think, is that we will bring Ukraine up to the level of NATO in terms of NATO standards... And then, of course, the question is, when will this happen? It is impossible to predict now. We can really only talk about it in the future,” he said during the summit in Vilnius in 2023.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Mark Rutte (Getty Images)

With the assistance of Mark Rutte, the Justice for Ukraine conference was held in The Hague in April 2024, during which 44 participating countries supported the creation of a special tribunal for criminal Russian aggression and the initiative to use frozen Russian assets in favor of Ukraine. The conference resulted in the launch of the Register of Damages caused by Russia's war in Ukraine.

The prime minister of the Netherlands has visited Ukraine on several occasions. In the spring of 2024, Mark Rutte and Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a security agreement between the two countries.

The document stipulates that the Netherlands will provide €2 billion in military assistance in 2024 and continue to support Ukraine for the next 10 years. Subsequently, the Netherlands allocated an additional €1 billion for military assistance to Ukraine and €400 million for reconstruction.

Sources: NOS, Reuters, Politico, data from the official NATO website, information from Wikipedia.