Mark Rutte to succeed Stoltenberg as NATO secretary general amid escalating global tensions

Mark Rutte, the outgoing prime minister of the Netherlands, will succeed Jens Stoltenberg as the next secretary general of NATO, as agreed upon by all 32 nations of the alliance.

Klaus Iohannis, the president of Romania, withdrew his candidacy for the NATO secretary general post on Thursday (June 20), reaffirming Romania's support for Rutte after receiving endorsements from Slovakia and Hungary on Tuesday.

Iohannis said that he had informed NATO allies of his decision to withdraw his candidacy at a meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defence.

Rutte's leadership has come when the world is marred with conflicts and major countries are holding their elections. He will assume the position on October 2.

Now that Rutte has been confirmed, the succession question is resolved before July, when NATO leaders travel to Washington to commemorate the alliance's 75th anniversary.

Rutte's road to becoming NATO chief hasn't been easy. Since late November, he has been campaigning for the position. Eastern European nations have questioned Rutte's pre-2014 support for Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, and he has been accused of not actively enlisting their support. Nevertheless, Rutte received the support of two-thirds of all NATO members when he announced his candidacy in March.

Rutte was chosen after a lengthy process that saw Stoltenberg's term extended four times. The secretary general's tenure was extended by Allies in 2017 until the end of September 2020. They rescheduled that date to September 2022 in 2019.

Another extension was issued in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. NATO partners decided to give Stoltenberg an additional year as secretary general in July of last year.

(With inputs from agencies)