The US Announces Through Its Ambassador to NATO That It Supports Rutte For Head Of The Alliance, Not “Friend

NATO is in the middle of a process of debate and search to reach a consensus on the appointment of the next Secretary General. The US Permanent Representative to NATO stated that Washington has “the greatest respect” for Klaus Iohannis, but the choice is Mark Rutte.

“I think you are aware that the US position is that we fully support Mark Rutte as the next Secretary General, but we also have the greatest respect for our friend, President Iohannis, and we appreciate that he entered the race and we wish him all the best good, while we continue to debate this issue (the election of the future secretary general – no) within the Alliance”, said Julianne Smith.

She added that the ambassadors of the 32 NATO member countries are discussing and debating the arguments for and against the two candidates and a consensus will be reached in the coming weeks, but she could not specify the exact moment.

“We, all 32 ambassadors here, from NATO, are in the midst of searching for potential successors (for the current Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg – no). And there are two official candidates, as you know. We have Mark Rutte from the Netherlands and President Iohannis from Romania. There is an ongoing debate within the Alliance regarding the qualifications of these two very impressive leaders and we will continue to debate the pros and cons of these two individuals until we reach a consensus on one of them,” the ambassador added.

Rutte, the main opponent of Iohannis at the head of NATO

On March 12, President Klaus Iohannis announced that he is entering the competition for the position of Secretary General of NATO, now held by Jens Stoltenberg. A few hours before, the head of state said that “I do not intend to shorten my term as president”, which expires in December.

The main opponent is Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who has not yet announced his candidacy.

Before Iohannis announced his intention, the United States, Britain, France and Germany publicly spoke out in favor of Rutte’s nomination to head NATO, and officials in Washington praised the longest-serving Dutch prime minister as “excellent ” for this function.

The head of NATO has a four-year term, which can be extended, and is appointed by consensus obtained through diplomatic consultations. At the moment, Jens Stoltenberg holds the position of Secretary General until October.

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