Mr. Mark Rutte officially became NATO Secretary General

Speaking after taking over from his predecessor Jens Stoltenberg, Mark Rutte expressed strong support for Ukraine and said he could work with whichever candidate won the 2024 US presidential election in November. The new NATO Secretary General affirmed his determination to prepare the transatlantic alliance to deal with future challenges, saying that the bloc must fulfill its commitments to Ukraine to support the country in the current conflict. Regarding the US election, Mr. Rutte affirmed that he could coordinate well with whichever candidate won, whether Mr. Donald Trump or Ms. Kamala Harris.

NATO officials and diplomats expect Mr. Rutte to maintain priorities pursued by the alliance under his predecessor, Mr. Stoltenberg, including mobilizing support for Ukraine, pushing NATO countries to spend more on defense and maintaining the US role in European security issues.

Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, ends his tenure as leader of the 32-member alliance after a tumultuous decade, with the most notable developments being the Russia-Ukraine conflict that erupted in 2022 and the admission of Sweden and Finland. The conflict also prompted NATO to deploy thousands of additional troops to the alliance’s eastern flank and radically overhaul its defense plans.

According to analysts and diplomats, one of the main tasks of the new Secretary General Rutte will be to convince NATO members to increase their contributions of troops, weapons and spending to fully realize the new defense plans. In his speech upon taking office, Mr. Rutte also said that it is necessary to strengthen collective defense and deterrence actions, invest more and close the capability gap, aiming to achieve all the set goals.