NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg views positively the likely choice of the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as his successor, according to NATO's press service.
During a conversation with the media in Washington on June 18 at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Stoltenberg noted that since he does not choose his successor, he will not make statements about who will become the new NATO Secretary General.
However, he expressed the view that the bloc members are close to completion on the issue of the next head of the Alliance. This was influenced, in particular, by the decision of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to support Rutte's candidacy.
"But with the announcement by Prime Minister Orbán today, I think it's obvious that we are very close to a conclusion in the Alliance, for Allies to select the next Secretary-General," Stoltenberg said.
He added that this is good news.
"I think Mark Rutte is a very strong candidate. He has a lot of experience as Prime Minister. He's a close friend and colleague, and I therefore strongly believe that very soon the Alliance will have decided on my successor, and that will be good for all of us, for NATO and also for me," Stoltenberg said.
Earlier it was reported that on June 18, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban promised that Budapest would support the candidacy of Mark Rutte for the post of NATO Secretary General. A similar statement was made by Slovak President Peter Pellegrini. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis decided to withdraw his candidacy for the post of NATO Secretary General.
It should be noted that for Rutte to become the new Secretary General after Jens Stoltenberg, he must secure the support of all leaders of the 32 NATO countries.
Read more about Mark Rutte in the article by RBC-Ukraine.