NATO's future / The future of the EU

Task: Rutte gets the green light - becomes the next NATO chief

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will become NATO's new secretary-general when Jens Stoltenberg steps down in October, sources familiar with the Dutch NOS say.

According to the sources, the other candidate, Romanian President Klaus Johannis, will shortly announce his withdrawal.

On Tuesday, both Hungary and Slovakia, which previously opposed, announced that they are giving their support to Rutte. Thus, Romania remains the only NATO country that has not backed him, writes Reuters.

Hungary released Rutte after an agreement with him and Stoltenberg that the country will not have to participate in NATO support to Ukraine.
 

 

Hungary ready to support Rutte as new NATO chief

Hungary is ready to stand behind Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the new head of NATO, writes Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on X.

This after reaching an agreement with the current chief Jens Stoltenberg.

"We agreed that no Hungarian personnel should participate in NATO's activities in Ukraine and that no Hungarian funds should go to support them," writes Orbán.

Consensus is required among the 32 member states to choose NATO's next Secretary General. Slovak President Peter Pellegrini also signaled on Tuesday that the country is ready to release Rutte, according to RFE/RL. This means that only Romania is still opposed.

Jens Stoltenberg will step down from the post in October.

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The future of the EU
Hungary: As chairman, we will "make the EU great again"

Hungary promises to "make the EU great again" during its presidency of the EU Council between July and December, reports AFP.

- Our motto refers to an active, firm presidency, the starting point that we are stronger together than apart, and that together we can all remain who we are, says the country's EU minister Janos Boka.

Boka waves away the question of why they plagiarized Donald Trump's motto and says that as far as he knows, Trump has never wanted to make Europe great.

Hungary also put forward seven priority areas for its presidency, including increasing the Union's competitiveness and reducing the number of undocumented migrants.