Romania’s president launches bid for NATO top job against Mark Rutte

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis jumped on Tuesday into the race to be NATO's next leader, pitting him against Dutch PM Mark Rutte who is struggling to lock up support from all 32 member countries.

“I have decided to enter the competition for the position of NATO secretary-general,” Iohannis, whose presidential term ends in December, said in a televised address in Bucharest. “I believe that NATO, in turn, needs a renewed perspective on its mission. Eastern Europe has a valuable contribution in the discussions and decisions within NATO.”

In an opinion piece for POLITICO, Iohannis vowed to ensure Ukraine “prevails in its existential battle” against Russia and called on NATO countries to bear the “moral, political and strategic obligation” to help Kyiv move forward in its bid to join the alliance.

“Russia will remain the most significant and direct threat to the Alliance for the foreseeable future,” he wrote.

Iohannis would be the first NATO chief from a country that was once in the Soviet bloc, but he faces an uphill struggle to edge out Rutte.

The U.S., Britain, France and Germany — the four biggest powers in NATO — have all come out in support of Rutte. The outgoing Dutch prime minister is widely credited with being a consensus-builder, a quality that supporters say could be put to good use if NATO-skeptic Donald Trump regains the U.S. presidency.

Getting the top job requires the unanimous backing of all member countries to succeed Jens Stoltenberg later this year, and Rutte isn't there yet.

Romania, the Baltic countries and Turkey yet to register their support for him. Sweden, which only joined the alliance last week has also not publicly backed Rutte, despite Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson praising his Dutch counterpart in a POLITICO interview as an “extremely skilled person.”

Hungary actively opposes his candidacy, smarting from the tongue lashing it got from Rutte on backsliding on democracy and its anti-LGBTQ legislation.

Iohannis took a veiled swipe at Rutte, under whose watch the Netherlands failed consistently to meet NATO's 2 percent of GDP spending target on defense.

“While we have been lagging on defense financing, benefiting from what we thought to be an everlasting peace dividend for many years, this is no longer possible,” he wrote. “All of us must do our utmost to reach the minimum of 2 percent GDP for defense spending ... as soon as possible.”

He also pitched himself as a candidate for change at NATO.

“As our world grows more complex and unpredictable, NATO must also change and adapt,” the Romanian president said. “Our like-minded partners — primarily in the Indo-Pacific — will be the first to work with in upholding international law and the rules-based order.”

The same applies in the digital sphere, he said: “Facing the reality of emerging and disruptive technologies, AI and quantum computing, NATO can only stay ahead by accelerating its digital transformation and increasing its investment in innovation.”