By Alexander Brotman
After little speculation, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will succeed Jens Stoltenberg as NATO’s next Secretary General in October. Rutte was the leading candidate of the United States, UK, and other major NATO powers, with his only competitor being Klaus Iohannis, the president of Romania. In choosing Rutte, NATO has made a safe, but not a bold choice.
Rutte is more than qualified, having served as Dutch prime minister since 2010 and he is a vocal supporter of Ukraine. However, Rutte will be fourth NATO secretary general to hail from the Netherlands. This has not gone unnoticed by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and other Central European leaders, who feel the strategic center of the alliance is moving eastwards and its leader should reflect this changing dynamic. While the Netherlands has just barely passed the threshold of spending 2% of its GDP on defense, Poland and the Baltic states are all in the 3-4% range with further increases likely in the years ahead. Thus, for Rutte to succeed in his position, he will have to balance the historical leadership role of Western Europe in NATO with the historical memories of the Baltic and Central European NATO member........