Who is Mark Rutte? Netherlands prime minister to become next Nato secretary general

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte has been named the next secretary general of Nato, succeeding Jens Stoltenberg.

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have both welcomed the appointment, with the new leader set to take charge at the start of October.

Meanwhile, David Cameron, the foreign secretary, said the appointment meant “Nato is in safe hands”.

The changeover comes at a turbulent time, with the continuing war in Ukraine, and the wider standoff between Nato and Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Rutte will have to contend with the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House as 2024 draws to a close.

Trump has been an outspoken critic of Nato allies not spending the required two per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defence.

Here is all you need to know about the new head of Nato.

Who is Mark Rutte?

Mark Rutte has been Dutch prime minister since 2010 but saw his fourth cabinet collapse last July due to immigration policy disagreements.

This led to early elections in the Netherlands but Rutte did not lead his centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy into the election.

The party, led by Dilan Yeşilgöz, lost 10 seats and has allowed the far-right Party for Freedom an opportunity to take over. Former domestic intelligence chief Geert Wilders won the Dutch election last November and has formed a coalition with three other parties. He has agreed to independent Dick Schoof becoming the incoming prime minister for the new coalition cabinet.

The term will begin on July 2, with Rutte handing over power as prime minister.

The 67-year-old will have the summer off before taking the Nato job from October 1.

He is unmarried and a practising member of the Dutch Protestant Church.

He was known in the Netherlands for continuing to teach social studies at a secondary school while prime minister. It was thought he would go back to full-time teaching upon his departure from frontline politics but he put himself forward for the Nato job in 2023.

What other roles has he held?

Rutte has been involved in politics since the 1990s, when he combined his business interests with his involvement within the VVD party – also known as the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.

He was elected as an MP in 2003 and served as social secretary and then education secretary before becoming party leader in 2006. The party won the election in 2010.

Rutte "is seen as a safe pair of hands to lead Nato in turbulent times, just as Stoltenberg has done for the last decade," Oana Lungescu, a former chief Nato spokesperson, said.

Although he has been one of Europe's top politicians for years, Rutte has remained down-to-earth and can often be seen riding his bicycle around his hometown of the Hague.

When he handed in his government's resignation to King Willem-Alexander last year, he drove to an ornate royal palace in a Saab 93 estate.

Last Thursday, when his last rival for the top Nato job pulled out, Rutte posed – in jeans, a white shirt and sunglasses – for selfies with people outside his office while sitting on his bike.

While he was Dutch prime minister, Rutte was a strong supporter of Ukraine and its right to defend itself after Russia's 2022 invasion. Under his leadership, the Netherlands pledged military hardware to Kyiv including Leopard tanks and F-16 fighter jets.

He said the war on Europe's eastern flank was one of the reasons for seeking the job as Nato chief.

But Rutte's political career hasn't been all smooth sailing

He bounced back from a number of scandals while in office in the Netherlands. He was so adept at preventing political stains sticking to him that he earned the nickname Teflon Mark.

His third coalition government resigned in early 2021 over a scandal involving investigations into child welfare payments that wrongly labelled thousands of parents as fraudsters.

A few months later, Rutte proved himself a master of survival by leading his conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy to victory in national elections and cobbling together his fourth and final coalition from the same parties that resigned to trigger the vote.

Who is the current secretary general?

Jens Stoltenberg has been secretary general of Nato since 2014, having been Norwegian prime minister from 2000 to 2001 and then again from 2005 to 2013.

He started his career as a journalist but has been a member of the Norwegian Labour Party for most of his life – taking cabinet positions through the 1990s.

Stoltenberg said of his successor: "Mark is a true trans-Atlanticist, a strong leader, and a consensus-builder.

"I wish him every success as we continue to strengthen Nato for the challenges of today and tomorrow. I know I am leaving Nato in good hands.”