(Bucharest) The way is now clear for Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, candidate for head of NATO, after the withdrawal of his only competitor, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, from the race on Thursday.
The 65-year-old leader indicated that he had informed the countries of the Atlantic Alliance that he was throwing in the towel, the Higher Council of National Defense announced in a press release, which therefore decided to support Mr. Rutte.
This is the end of a false suspense as the chances of the Romanian official, who had revealed his ambitions in March, saying he wanted to embody the eastern flank of the Atlantic Alliance, seemed weak in the face of the American support granted to Mark Rutte.
The proposal was, however, serious: Romania gained ground within the alliance, due to its strategic position on the border of Ukraine and Moldova, non-NATO members. It also borders the Black Sea and more than 5,000 NATO soldiers are deployed there.
But Klaus Iohannis failed to convince the other 31 countries of the Alliance. Only the Hungary of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban had given him its support, before rallying on Tuesday to the big favorite, Mark Rutte.
The decision, taken by consensus among member states for this post which belongs to a European, to appoint the 57-year-old Dutch leader, must be announced by the Washington summit in July.
Under Jens Stoltenberg’s mandate, which ends on October 1, NATO has taken on crucial importance in the face of the war in Ukraine.