BRUSSELS: The allies of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Wednesday appointed Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte as NATO’s next secretary general.
Rutte’s appointment became a formality after his only rival for the slot, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, quit the race.
Rutte’s appointment was approved by NATO ambassadors during a meeting at the 32-nation military alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
The outgoing Dutch premier will take the charge from the current secretary general, Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg, on October 1. Stoltenberg spent more than a decade as the NATO chief. His mandate was repeatedly extended, in order to provide continuity after Russia started war against Ukraine in 2022.
Earlier NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that the military alliance had no plans to deploy troops to Ukraine, despite many of its members providing Kyiv with weapons since Russia’s war started two years ago.
Stoltenberg, during a visit to Finland, said NATO has no plans to deploy forces to Ukraine, adding that the alliance was seeking long-term financial commitment for Ukraine.
He said that over the last months, there were some gaps, and some delays in the provision of military support to Ukraine. “We need to ensure that that doesn’t happen again,” he said.
The visit marked Stoltenberg’s first to Finland since the Scandinavian nation joined NATO in April 2023, prompted by Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Stoltenberg’s visit came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined Western leaders to commemorate D-Day in France.
Zelensky is expected to meet US President Joe Biden for talks on how Ukraine can proceed further with war strategy, especially after recent Russian advances.
