The US insists that Rutte has “strong support” to be the next leader of NATO

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BRUSSELS, May 29. () –

The United States stressed this Wednesday that the acting Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, has “strong support” to become the next Secretary General of NATO, replacing Jens Stoltenberg, who is leaving the position after a decade. front of the military organization.

“As is already well known, Mark Rutte has strong support. But not all allies are willing to approve his candidacy so more discussions await us on that front. Our goal is to have everything ready for the Washington summit,” said the US ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, in reference to the race between Rutte and the president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis.

Without going into the possibilities of the Romanian leader, Smith has insisted that the allies have the process “advanced” and with a view to the July summit in Washington staging the change of command in NATO. “It would be a perfect moment to celebrate the remarkable leadership of Stoltenberg, who has been at the helm for ten years, and at the same time, it would be ideal to announce his successor, whoever it may be,” he explained in a meeting with the media before the informal meeting. of NATO foreign ministers in Prague.

Precisely this meeting and the next one of Defense ministers in mid-June should be two appointments to culminate the conversations between allies for the appointment of the new secretary general. All in all, Rutte has his appointment on track as he already has around thirty supports among the organization’s partners, including Turkey, various allied sources explained to Europa Press weeks ago.

Only Hungary and Slovakia would remain to choose, apart from Romania, which nominated Iohannis last March. His candidacy did not have much progress in the organization as the United States and the main European allies had already expressed their support for Rutte and some sources indicate that the movement can be understood in the context of the negotiations that will be opened to renew the institutions. community after the elections that are held from June 6 to 9.

Hungary has been reiterating that it will not support the leader of the Netherlands as the next secretary general of NATO, appealing to the need for representation of Eastern Europe at the top of the Atlantic Alliance.