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An extended-term politician with the power to face up to quite a few crises and on the identical time one of many main supporters of Ukraine. Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is to go the North Atlantic Alliance.
Hungary on Tuesday overturned one of many final hurdles – its veto – following the politician gave written assurances that he wouldn’t power the nation to take part in new plans to offer assist to Ukraine. And Rutte’s opponent, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, will hand over his candidacy, in accordance with the server of the Dutch tv NOS.
“Rutte is a really robust candidate. He has intensive expertise within the place of Prime Minister. He’s my shut buddy and colleague,” mentioned the present head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, on Tuesday.
Phrases of reward have been additionally heard from one of many predominant actors of the Alliance – the US. President Joe Biden, in accordance with the Politico web site, earlier discovered the Dutch politician as a “passionate” and “good negotiator” who, because the chief of a small nation, proposed “modern” methods to assist NATO.
However Rutt will face a troublesome activity. He should lead the Alliance in occasions of ongoing warfare in Ukraine, face up to a doable change in political management in the US and focus on the group’s growth.
“Savior of NATO unity”
The Russian warfare in Ukraine has been occurring for 3 years now, and it isn’t anticipated that NATO’s place would change considerably following the change in management. Whilst Dutch Prime Minister, Rutte stood steadfastly on the aspect of the attacked nation. For instance, Amsterdam supplied Kiev with Leopard 2 tanks and promised F-16 fighters.
The politician thus gained the assist of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who referred to as him a “savior of NATO unity” through the Munich Safety Convention.
Rutte’s robust stance they provide some media in reference to the downing of a Boeing 777 over jap Ukraine. A strike in an space managed by pro-Russian separatists killed all 298 individuals on board flight MH17 on July 17, 2014, most of them Dutch nationals certain for Malaysia.
It was this tragedy that additionally marked the Dutch chief’s relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the direction of whom he repeatedly outlined.
What accompanied the collection of the brand new head of NATO?
NATO makes selections with the consent of all international locations, so any candidate wants the assist of 32 member states.
The 57-year-old Rutte was already supported by key alliance international locations such because the USA, Britain, France and Germany final yr. In April, Turkey additionally supported the Dutch politician, and the final time he lacked declared assist was solely from Romania and Slovakia. In response to Reuters, the brand new Slovak president Peter Pellegrini expressed his willingness to assist Rutte on Tuesday.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán then, following a protracted hesitation, acknowledged that his nation was not in opposition to Rutte’s appointment as NATO Secretary Normal.
Orbán hesitated to assist the Dutch politician for a number of causes. Hungary demanded a promise that it will not should take part within the provision of alliance navy assist to Ukraine, which is going through Russian aggression. Final however not least, the Netherlands is among the many international locations of the European Union that almost all loudly criticize the federal government of Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán for violating the ideas of the rule of regulation or limiting democratic values.
The episode left Rutte with a popularity for being undaunted by Putin and different authoritarian leaders, though he stays much less blunt than some leaders whose international locations border Russia, described server Politico.
As well as, the 57-year-old politician has intensive expertise in overseas coverage as a long-time prime minister. One of many longest-serving prime ministers within the international locations of the European Union was seen as a behind-the-scenes mediator at summits in Brussels.
He has lengthy had strained relations with leaders from southern and jap Europe, who see him because the chief of a bunch of “thrifty” international locations that insist on strict price range guidelines. This was additionally mirrored within the distribution of assist to economies affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Favor of the US
The North Atlantic Alliance might bear a serious transformation within the coming months if Republican candidate Donald Trump wins the US presidential election. He has beforehand mentioned that it’s as much as Washington to reassess its place within the group if different states don’t fulfill their obligations in protection investments.
On the identical time, the Netherlands isn’t an exemplary member both – throughout all the interval of Rutte’s tenure as prime minister, it was among the many international locations that didn’t fulfill the duty to spend two p.c of GDP on protection. Alternatively, in accordance with behind-the-scenes info, Rutte ought to have received over Trump along with his character.
Throughout his go to to the US in 2019, Trump even he mentioned that they grew to become “associates”. Rutte – along with his personal huge smile – agreed. He may thus play a major function if Trump actually resorts to reassessing the alliance within the occasion of victory.
Photograph: Michal Turek, Seznam Zpravy
From left, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mark Rutte and French President Emmanuel Macron visited the EU 2022 Summit in Prague.
Teflon politician
On the identical time, Rutte has lengthy denied that he may apply for the place of NATO Secretary Normal, particularly because it appeared that he would preserve his unwavering commonplace and stay on the helm of the Netherlands for just a few extra years.
Nevertheless, his seemingly unbreakable reputation was lastly damaged final yr by the unmanaged asylum coverage. His get together needed to unravel the year-on-year enhance in asylum seekers in a controversial method by design, which might restrict the availability of safety to kids of warfare refugees. For migrant households, coming to the nation would imply problems, and different events within the coalition strongly rejected the proposal.
On the identical time, it was not the primary political disaster that the second longest-serving politician within the EU (proper following Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán) was going by. Due to his expertise for surviving most setbacks, he earned the nickname “Mr. Teflon” or “Teflon Mark” not solely within the Netherlands.
For instance, final yr his authorities solely narrowly she waited vote of confidence over fossil gasoline extraction in Europe’s largest fuel subject, Groningen. Whereas the nation dedicated itself to assembly local weather targets, it remained one of many greatest polluters within the European Union when it comes to carbon dioxide emissions per capita.
Three years in the past for a change Rutte although filed resigned along with the federal government when 1000’s of fogeys have been wrongly accused of kid profit fraud, however the cupboard remained in workplace to cope with the coronavirus disaster. Solely a short while later, his VVD get together received the parliamentary elections.
Photograph: Michal Šula, Seznam Zpravy
Mark Rutte at Prague Citadel.
Condominium from my youth and a used Saab
So why is Rutte so in style? Amongst different issues, because of his picture as a modest and unpretentious politician near the individuals. He does not speak a lot regarding his personal life. He nonetheless lives in the identical condominium he purchased following his research, he drives a used Saab or a bicycle, he owns a push-button Nokia, she zoomed in BBC station. He additionally volunteers one hour per week to show at a highschool in a poor neighborhood in The Hague.
The Dutch political system additionally enabled Rutte to carry the prime minister’s chair for a very long time. Though his get together was falling within the polls, it continued to be the biggest get together in a divided political scene, acknowledged for AP political scientist André Krouwel from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.
Rutte has all the time targeted extra on social points. From July 2002 to June 2004, he was Secretary of State for Social Welfare and Employment, and from June 2004 to June 2006, Secretary of State for Schooling, Tradition and Science.
Though he was the chief of the Liberal Celebration, he overtly acknowledged nice inspiration from Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.
Typically he was additionally known as a populist, in 2017, for instance, he tried to win over voters from Geert Wilders, the chief of the far-right Celebration for Freedom (PVV). Then he referred to as Dutch to cease ‘flawed populism’.
