Turkey informed NATO members that it will back the candidacy of outgoing Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte as the new NATO secretary-general shortly after he visited Turkey to ask for the country’s support, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported, citing unnamed Turkish officials.
Anadolu said Turkey notified the NATO member countries of its decision to support Rutte’s candidacy on Monday.
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse also reported, citing foreign ministry spokesperson Öncü Keçeli, Turkey’s decision to endorse Rutte’s candidacy.
“Today we informed Brussels,” Keçeli told AFP of the government’s support for Rutte.
Rutte was in İstanbul on Friday to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. During their meeting, Erdoğan said he expected NATO’s next secretary-general to prioritize Turkey’s terrorism-related concerns, without revealing whether his country would support Rutte’s candidacy.
Rutte described his talks with Erdoğan as “extremely positive.“
NATO takes decisions by consensus, so any candidate needs the support of all 32 allies and is appointed for a four-year term, which can be extended.
Three NATO member countries, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania, have not yet made their decisions about the new NATO secretary-general.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is also a candidate for the NATO post.
Rutte is the frontrunner to replace Jens Stoltenberg, who will be stepping down as the head of NATO in October, at the helm of the alliance after the United States, Britain and Germany expressed support for his candidacy.
Rutte, who is the Netherlands’ longest-serving leader, announced his departure from Dutch politics last July, but currently remains in his post.
Hungary, however, said it would not support Rutte, who has previously voiced concerns about weakening democratic standards under Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Rutte is also facing skepticism due to the Netherlands’ failure to meet NATO’s defense spending targets over the past decade.
