his only rival withdraws his candidacy

“The president of Romania has informed the country’s Supreme Defense Council that at the end of last week he informed NATO allies that He withdrew his candidacy for the position of general secretary of the organization. Klaus Iohannis has asked Council members to support Mark Rutte’s candidacy for the position,” the Government of Romania has announced.

Iohannis’s withdrawal was the last obstacle that the Dutchman had left to reach the leadership of NATO. Actually, None of the allies ever understood very well why the Romanian president decided to present his candidacy, especially because he did so at a time when all the great powers (including the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany) had already expressed their preference for Rutte. The Government of Pedro Sánchez has also supported Rutte from the beginning.

[La ofensiva de seducción de Rutte a Orbán para ser jefe de la OTAN: disculpas y trato diferenciado]

The Dutch prime minister, who rejected a first offer to be NATO chief, has had to work very hard this time to get the job. In his seduction offensive, he had to convince those who in principle were declared enemies, such as the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

However, the obstacle that has been most difficult for him to overcome has been that of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán. At a heated summit in June 2021, Rutte showed Orbán the exit door from the EU for having approved anti-LGBT legislation (which has been brought before European justice by Brussels for being incompatible with European values). “The long-term goal is to bring Hungary to its knees on this issue“, they claim that Rutte also said during the closed-door debate.

The Government of Budapest has never forgotten these words and has forced the Dutchman to apologize. He did so in person before Orbán at a meeting last Monday in Brussels, and also by letter. “As we have discussed, I have noted that some statements What I did in 2021 as Prime Minister of the Netherlands caused displeasure in Hungary. “My priority in a possible future position as Secretary General of NATO will be to maintain unity and treat all allies with the same level of understanding and respect,” Rutte says in his letter.

Furthermore, the new Secretary General of NATO has agreed to give differentiated treatment to Hungary, which will not participate in any way in the training of Ukrainian troops or in the shipment of military equipment to kyiv.

Rutte will replace the Norwegian Jens Stoltenbergwho has been secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance since 2014 thanks to multiple extensions, which have been approved because the member states could not find the ideal candidate.

The Dutchman is one of the most senior members of the European Council (only surpassed by Orbán himself), since he has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010. In his position He has led coalition governments of all colors (both with the extreme right and with the social democrats) and has survived all kinds of political crises.

In fact, Rutte has been nicknamed the Mr. Teflon (for his ability to emerge unscathed from all the scandals) and also as the Mr. Normal, for his austere lifestyle comparable to that of any ordinary Dutchman. In fact, he has always liked to cycle to work despite being the prime minister.

His father was a merchant and his mother a secretary and he is the youngest of seven siblings. He studied history at the University of Leiden and his political vocation is early: he became president of the liberal youth at the age of 21.

However, before holding any public position, he worked for 10 years in private companies, specifically in the human resources department of the multinational Unilever.

Between 2002 and 2006, he was Secretary of State for Employment and Social Affairs and then for Education and Culture in the Governments led by the Christian Democrat Jan Peter Balkenende. In 2006 he became president of the liberal party and in 2010 he won the elections for the first time and formed his first coalition government.

Despite his job as prime minister, Rutte teaches two hours a week at a secondary school in The Hague. There he teaches Dutch and social studies, as he boasts on his resume.