Dutchman Mark Rutte, longtime Putin critic, set to lead NATO alliance
Rutte will step aside formally as prime minister when the recently forged right-wing Dutch government replaces his centre-right coalition. Rutte, who is unmarried, has lived all his life in The Hague and had hinted he might enjoy teaching after politics, but he cited the war in Ukraine as the reason for seeking an international post as he set his sights on the NATO leadership. He is a strong backer of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whom he recalled meeting in Kyiv five years ago. "It was clear even then: this is a man with a mission... I am convinced that Ukraine's success largely depends on the mentality he conveyed from the very beginning," Rutte told Reuters in April. By contrast, even while warning of the threat posed by Putin, he has suggested the Russian leader is not as strong as he seems. "Don't mentally overestimate Putin. I've talked to the man a lot. He's not a strong man, he's not a strong guy," Rutte said in a debate with parliament in April. Rutte cemented his bid to become NATO's new chief last year while co-leading an international coalition that will deliver F-16 fighters to Ukraine and train Ukrainian pilots. In his last months in office, he also signed a 10-year security pact with Ukraine, guaranteeing support from the Netherlands despite criticism by far-right leader and election-winner Geert Wilders. Rutte has forged good relationships with various British and U.S. leaders and is widely seen as having been one of the most successful in the EU at dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump, who is standing for re-election. This could prove valuable experience, as Trump's possible return has unnerved NATO leaders since the former president called into question U.S. willingness to support other members of the defence alliance if they were attacked. At the annual Munich Security Conference last year, Rutte said leaders should stop "moaning and whining about Trump", and spend more on defence and ammunitions production, regardless of who wins the U.S. election.
