Mark Rutte

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Mark Rutte (The Hague, February 14, 1967) is a Dutch politician. He has been Secretary General of NATO since October 1, 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs from October 14, 2010 to July 2, 2024, making him the longest-serving Prime Minister in Dutch history. From 2006 to 2023 he was also political leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).

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United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Mark Rutte at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on October 17, 2024. In October 2023, Rutte publicly indicated his interest in the position of NATO Secretary General, which would become vacant following the departure of Jens Stoltenberg in October 2024. 

It was also previously suggested that Rutte could succeed Charles Michel as chairman of the European Council. He was the favorite candidate for Secretary General of, among others, American President Joe Biden, but also enjoyed support because he could get along relatively well with his competitor and possible successor Donald Trump. 

Other candidates were the Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. Although Rutte quickly received support from most NATO member states, there was resistance from Turkey and Hungary in particular. Rutte had a clash with Turkish President Erdoğan in 2017, who now wanted EU countries to take tougher action against Kurdish movements. After Erdoğan gave his approval at the end of April 2024, the main resistance came from Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán, who was angry about Rutte criticized Hungarian anti-LGBTI legislation from 2021 and demanded an apology for it, partly after an intervention by the incumbent Secretary General Stoltenberg expressed his support for Rutte's candidacy to Orbán. 

Shortly afterwards, Romanian President Ioannis withdrew his candidacy and the way was clear for Rutte's appointment as Secretary General. On June 26, 2024, Rutte was officially elected as the new Secretary General, with effect from from October 1 of that y