Can PM Orbán prevent Mark Rutte from becoming NATO General Secretary?

PM Orbán can prevent Mark Rutte from becoming NATO General Secretary
Photo: MTI

Mark Rutte criticised PM Orbán and Hungary for the Hungarian democracy’s erosion as Dutch prime minister. Now, it can backfire on him since he would like to become NATO General Secretary, which requires the support of all the member states.

Türkiye, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary against Mark Rutte

Jens Stoltenberg, the incumbent General Secretary of the US-led military alliance, will leave the office in October. Currently, there are two candidates applying for the NATO top job: former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

Rutte garnered the support of 28 out of the 32 NATO member states and travelled to Istanbul this Friday to convince the Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to support his bid. According to Bloomberg, he was successful in that project.

If that is true, the only opponents of Rutte will be Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. However, following the Turkish support, Iohannis is expected to stand down, which leaves Bratislava and Budapest in the opponent’s position.

Orbán Erdogan NATO Sweden
PM Viktor Orbán and Turkish President Erfogan. Who will support Rutte?

Erosion of democracy in Hungary

Bloomberg did not write anything about Slovakia’s standpoint but mentioned that PM Orbán would probably not support Rutte’s nomination. Before, the former Dutch prime minister criticised Orbán and the Hungarian government for the “erosion of the Hungarian democracy”, and Orbán is not the type of person who forgets such “attacks”.

For example, in 2021, Rutte said they had to bring Hungarians to their knees. In a remark, Orbán said, “Hungarians only kneel before God, before their country, and when they ask for the hand of their lovers.”

Mark Rutte
Mark Rutte. PM Orbán kept referring to him before only as the “Dutch guy.” Photo: FB/Mark Rutte

The military leader of NATO is always American, which is understandable considering the fact that the US Army is by far the strongest military power in the alliance. Of course, that does not make the position of the general secretary weightless.

What will Orbán get in return for his vote?

The general secretary’s task is to bring together the member states and represent NATO’s interests, for example, in the ongoing war in Ukraine. Furthermore, his task will be to prevent any further escalations between Moscow and the Western allies, portfolio.hu wrote.

Rutte will need Hungary’s support since voting about the position requires unanimity. Bloomberg wrote nobody knew what PM Orbán would get in return for his vote.

Read also:

Source:

Tags