Rutte Becomes A Strong Candidate For NATO Secretary General, Moscow Says It Will Not Change Alliance Policy Against Russia

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with Dutch PM Mark Rutte, (Twitter/@jensstoltenberg)

JAKARTA - Moscow officials said the new official Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would not change the alliance's policy against Russia.

That was said by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova to Radio Sputnik. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's name is called a strong candidate to occupy the position of NATO Secretary General.

"Nothing will change in NATO with the entry of new people. No doctrine documents will change," the diplomat said Wednesday, quoted by TASS June 20.

Zakharova explained that the position of secretary-general of NATO was "very small in terms of its political influence."

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed in a press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington that the alliance was close to appointing a new secretary-general. He called Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte a strong candidate.

Rutte himself is known to be an ally of Ukraine and is one of the harsh critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Nearly 14 years as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Rutte has been one of the driving forces behind European military support for Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion, saying defeats on the battlefield to Moscow are essential to securing peace in Europe.

NATO must be strong against Moscow, and other EU leaders should not be naive about Russia Putin, he said.

"He will not stop in Ukraine, if we do not stop him now. This war is bigger than Ukraine itself. It is about enforcing international law," Rutte told the United Nations in September 2022, seven months after Russia's massive invasion.

On the other hand, he is a strong supporter of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who he remembers met in Kyiv five years ago.

"It was clear even then, he was a man on a mission. I believe that Ukraine's success depends heavily on the mentality it showed from the start," Rutte told Reuters in April.

On the other hand, when warning about the threat posed by Putin, he had stated that the Russian leader was not as strong as he could be seen.

"Don't overestimate Putin. I've spoken a lot with the man. He's not a strong man, he's not a strong man," Rutte said in a debate with parliament in April.

Rutte first took office in 2010. Under his leadership, the Netherlands has increased defense spending to more than a 2 percent threshold of GDP required for NATO members. The Netherlands also provided F-16 fighter jets, artillery, drones and ammunition for Kyiv, in addition to investing heavily in its own military.

His path to replacing Jens Stoltenberg, who stepped down as head of NATO in October after nearly a decade of taking the lead, became almost certain after Hungary and Slovakia indicated on June 18, they would support his candidacy to lead the country's 32nd alliance.

All that remains is Romania, whose President Klaus Iohannis also competes for the position.

Several members of the alliance hope Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas will be the first woman to lead NATO. However, others saw her too aggressive towards Russia.

Rutte will officially resign as prime minister when the recently formed Dutch far-right government replaces its center-right coalition.

He confirmed his efforts to become the new head of NATO last year, while leading an international coalition that would send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine and train Ukrainian pilots.