Rutte becomes NATO CEO, Romanian counterpart to withdraw

Mark Rutte will be the new Secretary General of NATO. Right away also Hungary fully supports Rutte's candidacy, the only thing left to do is to wait for the withdrawal of the only opposing candidate, Romanian President Iohannis. Insiders confirm to the NOS that Iohannis will do so in the short term.

In a first reaction, the current Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg says that the selection of the new chief executive is almost complete and he calls Rutte "a strong candidate".

There is no formal procedure for being hired for the top job at NATO, but the appointment must be approved by all 32 members of the military alliance. This means that a candidate may be confronted with all kinds of wish lists from the Member States in exchange for their support.

Rutte quickly gained a lot of support and from the start he was the favorite candidate of the United States, the most important partner in NATO.

However, a number of countries transverse. For example, there had to be a Private visit from outgoing Prime Minister Rutte to Turkish President Erdogan to allay a number of concerns with him.

Orbán's demands
Another obstructionist was Hungary. Prime Minister Orbán said he had two demands before he would agree to Rutte's candidacy. First of all, he wanted a guarantee that Hungary does not have to assist Ukraine in the war against Russia. That guarantee was given by Stoltenberg, the current secretary-general