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All NATO member states endorse Mark Rutte as alliance’s next secretary general — Politico

Mark Rutte will succeed Jens Stoltenberg on October 2 for a 5-year term

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte Lisa Maree Williams/ Getty Images

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte

© Lisa Maree Williams/ Getty Images

BRUSSELS, June 20. /TASS/. All 32 NATO member states agreed to the candidacy of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the next NATO secretary general to succeed Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg, Politico reported, adding that Rutte will officially be appointed during the Washington summit in July.

"Mark Rutte will be the next NATO secretary-general after all 32 members of the alliance agreed that the outgoing Dutch prime minister will succeed Jens Stoltenberg. Following endorsements from Hungary and Slovakia on Tuesday, Romania confirmed its support for Rutte on Thursday, with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis withdrawing his candidacy for the NATO top job," the website reads.

Rutte will succeed Stoltenberg on October 2 for a 5-year term.

Politico notes that one of Rutte’s main goals will be to increase military spending of all member states’ to 2% of GDP, while he was unable to bring the Netherlands’ military spending to that figure during his tenure as the prime minister. According to the voiced NATO data, the Netherlands will reach the 2% figure only this year. Overall, a total of 23 out of 32 member states will reach this threshold this year.

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