Mark Rutte will be next NATO chief: Who is outgoing Dutch PM?

It’s now official.

Dutch’s outgoing prime minister Mark Rutte will be the next chief of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

This comes after Romania’s president withdrew from the race.

In office since 2010, the 57-year-old Rutte is the country’s longest-serving prime minister.

Rutte has served as prime minister of the Netherlands four times – at the head of multiple coalition governments.

But what do we know about Rutte? What can we expect when he takes over as NATO chief?

Let’s take a closer look:

Who is Rutte?

Early years, plunge into politics

As per The Week, Rutte was born in February 1967.

Rutte went to the Maerlant Lyceum school from 1979 until 1985 where he specialised in the arts.

Rutte got his MA degree from the prestigious Leiden University.

Rutte worked as a manager for Unilever before taking the plunge into politics.

He began his political career in 2002 as part of the Cabinet of then prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

Rutte was then deputy minister in the Social Affairs and Employment Ministry under Balkenende from 2002 to 2004.

He was also a member of the Dutch House of Representatives in 2003.

Rutte served as State Secretary for Higher Education and Science in the Education, Culture and Science Ministry from 2004 to 2006.

Rise to power

In 2006, Rutte began his ascent to the top of Dutch politics when he became the leader of the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).

Rutte won the 2010 general election and never looked back.

Arguably the biggest test of Rutte’s leadership came in 2014 – when 196 Dutch nationals were killed when a missile shot down a passenger jet over Ukraine.

Investigators said the missile was supplied by Moscow.

Famed for cycling to work, Rutte was dubbed ‘Mr Normal’ in a country where being normal is a rule of thumb.

His low-key style and consensus politics may have helped the former Unilever manager negotiate the complex world of Dutch politics to remain in office until recently.

But in Europe Rutte earned the sobriquet ‘Mr No’ for his opposition to bailouts for debt- and Covid-hit southern European nations

According to The Guardian, Rutte also earned the rather more infamous nickname of “Teflon Mark” due to his ability to survive scandals.

He became prime minister for the fourth time in 2022 – a year after Rutte and his entire Cabinet resigned to accept political responsibility for a scandal involving the nation’s tax office that wrongly labeled as fraudsters thousands of parents who claimed childcare benefits.

Rutte also has a reputation as a consensus builder.

His fourth coalition government – comprising the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, together with the centrist, pro-European D66, the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal and centrist Christian Union – was made up of the same four parties that quit to end his third term.

Rutte resigned in July 2023 after the issue of reining in migration that has troubled countries across Europe for years brought down his government.

Rutte initially said he would leave politics.

“In the past few days, people have speculated about what motivates me, and the only answer is: the Netherlands. My position is completely subservient to the country. Yesterday morning I took the decision that I will no longer be available to head the VVD list. When a new government takes over, I shall leave politics,” he was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

Interestingly, Rutte in 2023 said he was not interested in the job of NATO chief.

Though Rutte hinted he might enjoy teaching after politics, he later cited the war in Ukraine as the reason for seeking an international post.

What can we expect with him at the helm?

For NATO to talk tougher with Russia.

Rutte is a fierce advocate of Ukraine and a long-time critic of Vladimir Putin.

Under his leadership, the Netherlands increased defence spending to more than the two per cent threshold of GDP desired of NATO members.

Rutte believes NATO must be powerful to counter Moscow, and other European Union leaders must not be naive about Putin’s Russia.

Addressing the UN in September 2022, months after Russia’s invasion, Rutte said, “He won’t stop at Ukraine, if we don’t stop him now. This war is bigger than Ukraine itself. It’s about upholding the international rule of law.”

In his last months in office, he also signed a 10-year security pact with Ukraine, guaranteeing support from the Netherlands despite criticism by far-right leader and election-winner Geert Wilders.

Rutte’s government had taken prominent role in supporting Ukraine, pledging billions of euros and leading the push to give Kyiv F-16 fighter jets.

Rutte has also praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“It was clear even then: this is a man with a mission… I am convinced that Ukraine’s success largely depends on the mentality he conveyed from the very beginning,” Rutte told Reuters in April.

Zelenskyy had welcomed the ‘historic’ announcement and praised Rutte for making the Netherlands the first country to offer the planes.

Rutte taking charge of NATO allows it to put on a show of unity and demonstrate solidarity with war-ravaged Ukraine when US President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet in Washington in July to mark NATO’s 75th birthday.

Rutte has for months been the preferred candidate of the majority of NATO allies, including big members like the United States and Germany.

In office for a decade, outgoing Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has been a steady hand at NATO’s helm and has proved difficult to replace.

Even while warning of the threat posed by Putin, Rutte has suggested the Russian leader is not as strong as he seems.

“Don’t mentally overestimate Putin. I’ve talked to the man a lot. He’s not a strong man, he’s not a strong guy,” Rutte said in a parliamentary debate in April.

The Trump challenge

Rutte’s challenges could include the possible return of Donald Trump as US president, which has unnerved NATO leaders since the former president called into question US willingness to support other members of the defence alliance if they were attacked.

Rutte, who has forged good relationships with various British and US leaders, is widely seen as having been one of the most successful in the EU at dealing with Donald Trump.

Rutte said at the Munich Security Conference in February that NATO needs to “work with whoever is on the dance floor.”

“We should stop moaning and whining and nagging about Trump,” he said.

Hungary lifted its veto on Rutte’s candidacy after the long-serving Dutch prime minister gave written guarantees that he would not force Budapest to take part in the military alliance’s new plans to provide support to Ukraine should he be appointed.

“We reached an important agreement with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. We agreed that no Hungarian personnel will take part in the activities of NATO in Ukraine and no Hungarian funds will be used to support them,” Orban said as per The Week.

“Our next step this week was to ensure that this agreement can stand the test of time. After yesterday’s meeting in Brussels, PM Mark Rutte confirmed that he fully supports this deal and will continue to do so, should he become the next Secretary General of NATO…In light of his pledge, Hungary is ready to support PM Rutte’s bid for NATO Secretary-General,” he added.

NATO makes all of its decisions by consensus, giving any of the 32 member countries an effective veto, including on whether they should take part in any joint effort or operation.

Turkey had also voiced opposition to Rutte’s bid but lifted its objections in April.

Stoltenberg said on Tuesday Rutte was a “very strong” candidate to replace him and a decision was near.

Under Stoltenberg, who joined a few months after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, the alliance has added Montenegro, North Macedonia, Finland and Sweden as new members.

Some members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had hoped Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas would become the first woman to lead NATO but others saw her as too hawkish towards Russia.

With inputs from agencies