The former Prime Minister of the Netherlands will officially take up his new position at a ceremony in Brussels.
On October 1, Mark Rutte officially becomes the new, 14th Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance.
According to Reuters, a ceremony is to take place in Brussels during which Jens Stoltenberg, who has led NATO for the past ten years, will hand over his powers to the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
The bloc's member countries expect the new Secretary General to generally maintain the course of his predecessor, which includes three priority areas: helping Ukraine to resist Russian aggression, increasing NATO funding for the defense industry, and actively involving the United States in ensuring security in Europe.
Rutte is considered an ardent supporter of Ukraine and is noted for his ability to successfully negotiate with various coalition partners over the years. However, the Dutch are quite critical of some European countries, which are not very keen on the idea of increasing defense budgets and want to finance security projects through general EU loans.
- Jens Stoltenberg is convinced that Rutte will cope well with his new role as NATO Secretary General.
- President Zelensky thanked Rutte for his support of Ukraine and congratulated him on his new position.