Mark Rutte makes humblebrag pitch for NATO top job

BERLIN — He didn't mean to say it (but he really did).

Weeks after revealing his ambition to take on the NATO secretary-general post in a chat with Dutch national radio, the Netherlands' outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte says it was a "mistake" to be so candid, while letting everyone know he's definitely still running.

"After 13 years in this job you still make mistakes," he told a crowd at the Hertie School in Berlin on Monday. "And the mistake was that I spoke about a possible shift for me, to secretary-general, and I'm absolutely not sure whether it will happen."

"I'm not going to retract what I said," he added, "because what I said was obviously what I meant to say, but I should not have said it."

Rutte said any thoughts of trying for the NATO top job earlier this year would have been impossible because at that time a departure from the Dutch government would have triggered a national election. However, that's not the case now as Rutte retired from national politics ahead of last month's general election that saw nationalist Geert Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) emerge as the largest party.

In late October, Rutte said the NATO post was "very interesting" during a radio interview, prompting a flurry of interest in his candidacy, with some predictions he'd romp into the job with strong backing from big alliance countries.

However, he does face some opposition from candidates from Baltic nations on the front line with Russia — and which have long warned of the danger posed by the Kremlin.

The potential rivals include Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas — who would become the alliance's first female boss — and Latvia's Foreign Minister Krišjānis Kariņš, both from countries which spend big on defense. Rutte has faced criticism for keeping Dutch defense spending short of the 2 percent of GDP target agreed by NATO members.

That's raising questions about Rutte's campaign to replace Jens Stoltenberg at the top of the military alliance.

"The Netherlands has not been fulfilling the requirements until a couple of years ago," Rutte conceded in Berlin. However, he argued that fresh pledges made since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine would take the Dutch to the 2 percent target. "We are almost just in time there," he said.

And if he falls short of taking the top post at the alliance headquarters in Brussels?

"As a hobby, I still teach two hours a week ... and if NATO would not happen, which is still possible, then probably I will pick up something like that," he said ... humbly.