New Nato chief Rutte names Ukraine among top three priorities

Taking office on October 1, Nato’s new Secretary General Mark Rutte listed his top three priorities.

“The first is to keep Nato strong and ensure our defences remain effective and credible, against all threats,” said Rutte, a former Dutch Prime Minister who takes over as Nato chief from Jens Stoltenberg, who held office for 10 years.

“My second priority is to step up our support for Ukraine and bring it ever closer to Nato, because there can be no lasting security in Europe without a strong, independent Ukraine,” Rutte said.

His “third priority is to strengthen our partnerships” in a more interconnected world, he said.

Rutte paid tribute to his predecessor describing his tenure as “exemplary” and adding that “today Nato is bigger, Nato is stronger and is more united than ever, that is in large part because of your leadership.”

Addressing his first news conference as head of Nato, Rutte issued a call to Nato member states to significantly increase defence spending, to meet the challenges facing the Alliance.

He said that an end to the war in Ukraine was vital for peace and security in Europe, underlining that allowing Russian ruler Vladimir Putin to get his way would be more costly than aid to Ukraine.

Rutte said that given the deepening war between Israel and Hezbollah, monitoring the situation in Lebanon was high on his list.

To questions about statements by US presidential candidate Donald Trump about giving way to Russia to attack Nato member states who do not fulfil their financial commitments, Rutte skirted the matter, saying that it was Trump, when in office as president, who had pushed Allies to increase their Nato defence spending.

Rutte said that he knew both US presidential candidates “very well”, could work with either of them, and would not comment on everything said by US politicians.

(Photo of Rutte and Stoltenberg: Nato)