Refer Report

On the 1st (local time), former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (57) took office as Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). President Jens Stoltenberg stepped down after 10 years in office. General Rutte is faced with the task of leading the military alliance between the United States and Europe at a critical juncture, as the war between Russia and Ukraine has been ongoing for two years and nine months, and the United States is about to change its government.

Rutte, who worked in Unilever’s human resources department and was a member of the center-right Liberal Democratic Party (VVD), entered public life by being elected to the National Assembly in 2003. President Rutte has been in office for 14 years since 2010, earning the title of ‘Netherlands’ longest-serving prime minister.’ After receiving strong support from the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, he was appointed Secretary-General of NATO, leading the 32-nation alliance, in June, and resigned from the position of Prime Minister.

Rutte has led a hard-line stance against Russia in the European Union (EU), criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia shot down a passenger plane over Ukraine in 2014, killing a Dutchman. However, it is taking a cautious approach and has not revealed its position regarding Ukraine’s accession to NATO or NATO’s policy toward Russia.

As NATO pledged military support worth 40 billion euros (about 58 trillion won) to Ukraine last July by 2025, General Rutte must encourage each member state to increase defense spending. In addition, there remains the task of dialogue with Western European member states so that they can accept requests for support of troops, weapons, and air defense systems from Eastern European member states, which are experiencing security concerns after the war.

In particular, if former President Donald Trump, who demanded an increase in defense spending in Europe and a ‘reduced role of NATO’ in November of this year, is re-elected, the European countries that joined NATO are likely to experience conflict with the United States again.

There are predictions that even if Vice President Kamala Harris is elected, the military alliance between European countries and the United States will weaken. “No matter who is in the White House, (the U.S. government) will focus more on Indo-Pacific security and domestic issues,” Camille Grand, who served as assistant secretary general at NATO during former President Trump’s term, told the Guardian.

General Rutte’s acquaintances, including former Dutch Defense Minister Kaisa Ollongren, evaluated that he, who led four coalition governments, is good at finding and mediating compromises between people and has the ability to resolve various conflicts that may arise within NATO member countries. In fact, he earned the nickname ‘Trump trainer’ by changing the mind of former President Trump, who had threatened to withdraw from NATO during the 2018 NATO summit.

In response to the close relationship between Russia and China, General Rutte is expected to continue NATO’s policy of defense cooperation with Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. NATO member countries adopted the ‘New Strategic Concept’, a joint response policy against China in 2022. The joint statement at this year’s summit defined China as ‘Russia’s decisive helper.’

After serving for 10 years, President Stoltenberg stepped down, leaving behind the record of being the second longest-serving Secretary General in history, following former President Joseph Rüns. The term of office of NATO Secretary General is four years, but after General Stoltenberg was reappointed once in 2018, his term was temporarily extended from 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.

He was evaluated as having led NATO stably through crises such as the Trump administration’s call for an increase in defense cost sharing, the weakening of the NATO alliance, and the war between Russia and Ukraine. After leaving office, he will serve as chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC).

Source: Korean