NATO's future

Clear: Mark Rutte elected as new NATO Secretary General

The outgoing Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, has been officially chosen as NATO's new Secretary General, writes Reuters. Since last week, it has been known that Rutte is the only remaining candidate to replace Jens Stoltenberg in the post.

NATO's 32 member states approved Rutte during a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. Outgoing NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg congratulates Rutte, whom he describes as "a strong leader and consensus builder".
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Ukraine and the USA challenge the "Trump whisperer" Rutte

He has been described as a "Trump whisperer" and nicknamed "Teflon-Mark" for his ability to let political scandals flow from him. When the Netherlands' Mark Rutte now takes over the helm of the NATO defense alliance, he is facing a potentially shaky first period, several media outlets note.

As for the war in Ukraine, Rutte will play a key role in maintaining support for Kyiv, AFP notes. And this fall, his diplomatic skills may be further tested if NATO-skeptic Donald Trump returns to the White House.

- All this moaning and whining about Trump, let's stop it, Rutte himself said about the American presidential candidate at a press conference in February.