Falcon powers – Turkey has informed its NATO allies that it has decided to support the nomination of Mark Rutte, the outgoing Prime Minister of the Netherlands, for the position of NATO Secretary-General, according to a senior Turkish official on Monday.
This decision comes three days after Rutte’s visit to Turkey to seek the support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his candidacy. Meanwhile, the current NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, the former Norwegian Prime Minister who has held the position of the alliance’s top civilian official since 2014, is nearing the end of his term.
Stoltenberg’s tenure has been extended multiple times as the alliance sought to maintain a steady hand at the helm following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Turkey and Hungary, both NATO members, had expressed reservations earlier about Rutte’s nomination, and Erdogan did not make any commitments during a joint press conference with the Dutch Prime Minister last Friday.
NATO officials and envoys hope to finalize the nomination of Stoltenberg’s successor by the end of April, before the competition for top positions in the European Union begins from June 6 to 9.
They are keen to avoid any disruptions to this issue, which could be divisive, during the alliance’s 75th-anniversary summit in Washington in July.
NATO Secretary-Generals bear the responsibility of chairing meetings and directing sensitive consultations at times among member states to ensure the continued functioning of the organization based on consensus. They also ensure the implementation of decisions and speak on behalf of all members.
