Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has become NATO’s next secretary general, succeeding Jens Stoltenberg, who has held the post since 2014. Rutte will take office since October, Remix reports.
However, not everyone is in favour of the move. Witold Waszczykowski, former Polish foreign minister and former MEP, told conservative news outlet Niezalezna.pl.:
This is a poor choice.
Waszczykowski emphasised Rutte’s controversial role in the EU in 2020. As leader of the so-called “Frugal Four”, Rutte opposed budget increases that gave the European Commission additional powers to impose taxes and borrow to support post-Soviet economies. This move was seen as a significant step towards federalisation.
In addition, a new mechanism linked to the COVID-19 funds was created, which introduced a rule of law mechanism that stopped payments to Poland, according to Waszczykowski.
During Rutte’s time in power, the Netherlands also failed to meet NATO’s demand for defence spending of 2% of GDP and resisted Ukraine’s integration into the EU.
“Rutte will likely prioritise the interests of Western Europe over the security concerns of NATO’s eastern flank,” Waszczykowski concluded, expressing a longstanding concern that 25 years after the first former Warsaw Pact countries joined NATO, the alliance is still not led by a politician from Eastern Europe.
