Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova: Rutte's appointment as NATO Secretary General will not change anything
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will become the new Secretary General of NATO. He was supported by all members of the alliance, and the only rival, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, is preparing to withdraw his candidacy. The Russian Foreign Ministry has already stated that they do not expect any changes in the alliance after his appointment. What the NATO Secretary General decides, who Mark Rutte is and how he treats the conflict between Russia and Ukraine - the military observer of the Newspaper figured out.En" Mikhail Khodarenok.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will become the next Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, NOS TV channel reported. According to the channel's sources, Rutte's only rival in the fight for this post, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, will withdraw his candidacy in the near future.
The appointment to the post of NATO Secretary General requires the consent of all 32 member countries of the bloc. Mark Rutte managed to enlist their support - Hungary and Slovakia were the last to express their consent to the appointment.
Currently, the position of Secretary General of the alliance is occupied by Jens Stoltenberg, former Prime Minister of Norway, who assumed his duties on October 1, 2014. On June 18, he said that NATO was close to approving a new secretary general, stressing that he considered Rutte a "strong candidate."
What does the NATO Secretary General decide?
To begin with, let us recall who is appointed to the post of NATO Secretary General and what are his main functions. The Secretary General is the highest civil servant of the alliance, he is responsible for leading discussions, facilitating the decision-making process, ensuring their implementation and representing NATO in the international arena.
The Secretary General also heads the North Atlantic Council, the alliance's main political decision-making body, and is directly involved in the work of NATO's leading committees, in particular the Nuclear Planning Group, the NATO-Ukraine Council and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.
The Secretary General has the authority to propose issues for discussion and acts as a mediator in decision-making, leading the consensus-building process in the alliance. To facilitate this process, the Secretary General maintains direct contacts with heads of State and Government, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense in NATO and partner countries.
This involves regular visits by the Secretary General to the alliance states and partner countries, as well as bilateral meetings with senior national officials when they visit NATO headquarters.
In fact, the Secretary General can exert some influence on the decision-making process in NATO, while respecting the fundamental principle that decision-making powers belong only to the governments of the member states themselves.
In addition, the Secretary General publicly represents the Alliance on behalf of the participating countries, reflecting their common positions on political issues. He represents the alliance in relations with other international organizations, as well as in the media and the public at large. To this end, the Secretary General regularly holds press briefings and conferences, as well as public lectures and speeches.
The Secretary General is nominated from among high-ranking political figures of NATO member countries. He is appointed by the Member States for a four-year term. The selection is carried out through informal diplomatic consultations between the member countries that nominate candidates for this post. The decision is not approved until a consensus is reached on one candidate. After the expiration of the term of office, the holder of this position may be offered to stay. Traditionally, the post is held by a high-ranking European politician.
For the most part, in the course of fulfilling his duties, the Secretary General "heads the consensus-building process" in the North Atlantic Alliance, that is, in fact, performs purely secretarial functions and is a purely technical figure.
Who is Mark Rutte?
Mark Rutte is a 57-year-old Dutch politician. Since 2010, he has headed the Dutch government four times. On July 7, 2023, Rutte announced the resignation of his government due to disagreements within the ruling coalition over granting asylum to migrants. The next elections in the Netherlands will not be held until autumn, until then the Rutte government remains in power.
Rutte is not married and has no children. He became a candidate for the post of NATO Secretary General in February 2024, and the change of the Secretary General will take place on October 1.
Rutte has consistently supported Ukraine since 2014 and advocates the supply of military aid to Kiev. At the conference on Ukraine, which took place in Switzerland on June 15-16, Rutte stated that the Russian Federation should have participated in the meeting.
In April 2024, the candidate for the post of NATO Secretary General stated that the alliance should continue to contain Russia, including by strengthening the protection of the eastern flank and spending at least 2% on defense from each member country.
What will the change of the Secretary General change?
After Rutte's nomination, no fundamental changes are expected in NATO, of course. Unless the former Prime minister of the Netherlands brings a few personal items to his new office.
The same point of view is shared by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.
"Nothing will change... with the arrival of a new person in NATO. No doctrinal documents will change. You may ask: well, maybe this particular person will be able to change them? No, he can't. For one simple reason: because the figure of the NATO Secretary General, in terms of his political influence, is nominal," she said in an interview with Sputnik radio.
The diplomat also warned against "false hopes" for a change in the alliance's attitude towards Russia. According to her, "the most dangerous thing" for the Russian Federation is "credulity and the desire to catch changes in the intonation of communication." As the representative of the Foreign Ministry stressed, Russia is "deeply focused on peace," but in the West "they have learned to vary, you know, harsh shouts demanding strategic defeat and pseudo-embraces."
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
