Romanian President Iohannis Resigns From Candidate, NATO Compacts Support Dutch PM Rutte As Secretary General

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

JAKARTA - The move by the Dutch Prime Minister to step down to become Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been smoother, after rival Klaus Iohannis stepped down on Thursday, following Hungary's previous support.

The Romanian president's resignation in his candidacy paved the way for PM Rutte to replace Jens Stoltenberg as head of the defense alliance later this year.

When announcing President Iohannis' decision, Romania's top defense council said it would donate one of the country's two operational Patriot systems to Ukraine, responding to a request from Kyiv to its allies for more air defense assistance.

That changed on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban saying he was "ready to support" Rutte's candidacy, after obtaining assurances Budapest would not need to make any contribution to the coordinated delivery of NATO weapons to Ukraine.

The highest board, chaired by Iohannis, said the president had notified NATO last week of his decision to step down and Romania would now support Rutte's candidacy.

Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Romania's decision "will strengthen our air shield and help us protect our important people and infrastructure from Russian air terror better".

The nomination of the Secretary General of NATO is known to have received consensus from all 32 members. Rutte's previous candidacy did not receive Hungarian support.

With all 32 NATO members now supporting the Dutchman, diplomats said they hoped the North Atlantic Council governing the alliance would officially select him for the post in the coming days.

Rutte himself will face the challenge of maintaining allied support for Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasion, while guarding against any escalation that could draw NATO directly into the war with Moscow.