Romanian President Klaus Iohannis dropped out of the race to head NATO on Thursday, clearing the way for Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to become the next secretary general of the transatlantic military alliance, Reuters reports.
All other NATO members have already backed Rutte to succeed Jens Stoltenberg, who is stepping down this year after a decade in office.
With the Ukrainian military conflict on NATO’s doorstep and European countries worried about a possible return to the White House by Donald Trump, alliance members have concluded that the experienced Rutte is the best candidate for the post.
Announcing Iohannis’ decision, Romania’s Supreme Defence Council said it would hand over one of the country’s two Patriot systems to Ukraine, in response to Kyiv’s requests for air defence assistance from allies.
The high council, which is chaired by Iohannis, said the president notified NATO last week of his decision to withdraw from the alliance and Romania will now support Rutte’s candidacy.
With all 32 NATO members now backing the Dutchman, diplomats said they expect the alliance’s North Atlantic Council to formally select him for the post in the coming days.
Under Rutte, the Netherlands has in recent years increased defence spending beyond the NATO target of 2% of GDP. It has supplied Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets, artillery, drones and ammunition, as well as investing heavily in its own armed forces.
Norwegian former prime minister Stoltenberg’s term at the helm of NATO expires on October 1. He took up his post in 2014. Since Stoltenberg took office, four countries – Montenegro, North Macedonia, Finland and Sweden – have joined NATO.
