The powerful United States has been defending Rutte for some time, but this is the first time the ambassador has spoken out in his favor. The 32 NATO countries appear to find agreeing on a successor to outgoing NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg less easy than the United States had expected and hoped. Ambassador Julianne Smith had previously targeted Easter (at the latest). Rutte has not yet won over the Eastern European countries that are members of the military alliance in particular. A rival candidate emerged: Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.
NATO countries will reach an agreement on one of these two “impressive leaders,” Smith said before consultations between member states’ foreign ministers. “I hope that will happen in the coming weeks.” “We would certainly like to reach a decision today, not tomorrow. We want to see this resolved at the latest at the Washington summit” in July.
Appointments puzzle
Smith stressed that outgoing Prime Minister Rutte has the full support of the United States to become the new Secretary-General of NATO. According to her, this should be known. “But we also have the utmost respect for our friend President Iohannis. We appreciate his raising his hand and wish him the best.”
Stoltenberg is expected to resign in October. The veteran and respected Norwegian, who had to postpone his departure several times, still leads NATO's senior commanders in Washington. The United States hoped to be able to appoint a successor early. In this way, Washington hoped to prevent the issue from sliding into the notorious appointments puzzle after the European elections in June.
