NATO: Romanian President Klaus Johannis announced his candidacy for Secretary General

Klaus Johannis’ president announced his candidacy to succeed Jens Stoltenberg in his leadership, however, a position for which Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rute appears. “I decided to claim the position of NATO’s secretary-general,” Johannis said in a short speech, stressing his experience as president of Romania that is at the forefront of NATO after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “I think NATO should renew its perspective on its mission. Eastern Europe has a valuable contribution to NATO’s talks and decisions,” he said. However, many Alliance member states support Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rute for a successor to Stoltenberg. The name of the outgoing Prime Minister of the Netherlands is increasingly heard in recent times about the position of NATO Secretary-General and the 57-year-old politician is based on the US, Germany and Britain. Last week, however, Hungary openly expressed its disagreement with the Rute nomination. The appointment of the new Secretary-General requires unanimity of the 32 Alliance Member States.