The United States-led Western military Alliance North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has appointed Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the next Secretary General. The 32 members of NATO approved Mark Rutte's candidature at a meeting held on 26 June at its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Mark Rutte will replace the current Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg of Norway.

Former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was appointed as NATO Secretary General on 1 October 2014.

Mark Rutte will assume his office on 1 October 2024 after the retirement of Jens Stoltenberg, who has been the Secretary General of NATO for the past 10 years.

Rutte's road to Secretary General of NATO

Mark Rutte filed his nomination for NATO Secretary General last year after the collapse of his coalition government in the Netherlands. His opponent for the post was Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

Hungary and Turkey initially opposed his candidature, while the majority of the member countries supported it. After Hungary and Turkey withdrew their objections to Mark Rutte, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis also withdrew his candidature.

Thus, Mark Rutte was the only candidate left in the race, and he was duly appointed NATO's Secretary General.

Term and Functions of NATO Secretary General

The post of NATO Secretary General was created in 1952, and Lord Hastings Lionel Ismay of the United Kingdom was appointed as its first Secretary General (1952-57).

The Secretary-General is normally a senior European politician who is appointed by consensus by the members of NATO.

The Secretary-General's term is four years, and they can be re-appointed.
The Secretary-General is NATO’s top civil servant.
He is the principal spokesman of NATO.
He chairs NATO's highest political decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council. He also chairs the alliance's other senior decision-making committees.
He is responsible for the consultation and decision-making process in the organisation and for ensuring that all decisions are implemented.

About NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is a Western military alliance founded during the Cold War between the United States-led Western countries and the Soviet Union-led East European Communist countries.

The primary aim of NATO was to stop the Soviet Union and its communist ideology from spreading in Europe.

On 4 April 1949, 12 countries, the United States, Canada, Italy, Luxemburg, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom met in a summit meeting in Washington D.C, the United States of America and signed a mutual defence treaty.

This treaty, which is also known as the North Atlantic Treaty or the Washington Treaty, led to the foundation of NATO.

NATO is a collective defence treaty in which an attack on one member country obliges other countries to defend the member country that has been attacked.

This is the main reason why Ukraine wants to be a member of NATO.

Later, the organisation's membership was extended, and it currently has 32 members.

Sweden is the 32nd member of NATO, joining on 7 March 2024.

Headquarters: Initially, London was NATO's headquarters, but in 1967, it was shifted to Brussels, Belgium.