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NATO: From Norwegian Stoltenberg to Dutch Rutte, More Ukraine Than Mediterranean. Appeal for 2%

The new Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, who took office yesterday in Brussels, has three major objectives in the guidelines of his mandate: strengthening the Alliance, increasing partnership and bringing Ukraine ever closer to NATO.

NATO: From Norwegian Stoltenberg to Dutch Rutte, More Ukraine Than Mediterranean. Appeal for 2%

As the leader of the “frugal” European countries that are very strict on fiscal discipline, during the long nights of negotiations on the post-pandemic Next Generation EU – it was July 2020 – he had been the toughest nut that the Italian Prime Minister of the time, Giuseppe Conte, had to face. A common belief, never denied, says that the Dutch Prime Minister finally capitulated, Mark Rutte, it was a football joke about the less than optimal performance of the Dutch team thrown on the table by a die-hard Roma fan, Ambassador Piero Benassi, Conte's diplomatic advisor who immediately eased the tension and paved the way for the agreement.

It is not excluded that in his new office of Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance hired yesterday in Brussels to replace the Norwegian, Jens Stoltenberg (who had led NATO for ten years), Rutte could somehow take revenge by making Italy pay for its historic "failures" to respect the 2% of national GDP intended for expenses for defense, an objective that NATO has set itself as strategic for years, under pressure from the United States. Italy It is among the 32 members of NATO and one of the few (six or seven) that they don't respect that goal but it is certainly the only one among the large EU countries.

Succeed in increase defense spending, said yesterday at the investiture press conference Mark Rutte "it is clearly a problem for many governments, but that's what the politicians are called to do; because ours resources are up to our needsà there is a significant need for more investment. I will work on this with our allies, everyone will have to do their part”. Rutte added that he knew well that “Giorgia Meloni, my successor, Olaf Scholz all the European leaders, but also in Canada and the US, we all know that it is our job to keep the books in balance, to make sure that we have a situation where we hand over sustainable finances to the next generations, but also to make sure that the priorities that need to be financed can be financed”. From this point of view Rutte said he was “happy that the Netherlands is now at 2% of GDP in defense spending and, of course, the invasion of Ukraine was a wake-up call for many, including my country”.

There are many ways to achieve the goal, Rutte added, “because there are differences from country to country” but in the EU “country-specific recommendations have been made more central to the process. In exchange for reforms, the'EU is ready to help with post-Covid funds. But it is clear: we must defend our alliance, making sure that our people and our values ​​are defended. I will work with the allies to fully implement our decisions and to continue to bring Ukraine ever closer to NATO”.

Rutte summarized in three big goals the guidelines of his mandate: to strengthen the Alliance, increase partnership and bring Ukraine ever closer to NATO. According to a rumour published in the Financial Times outgoing US President Joe Biden could give a boost to Ukraine's NATO candidate status before he leaves the White House. But this is, for now, unconfirmed news. "I have traveled to Ukraine several times in recent years," the new secretary general explained, "and I have seen with my own eyes the brutality of Russia's war of aggression.

Support Ukraine it is the right thing to do and it is also an investment in our security, because an independent and democratic Ukraine is vital for peace and security in Europe. And the cost of supporting Kiev is far less than what we will face if we allow Vladimir Putin to prevail.” As for the use of Western weapons on Russian soil, Rutte said Ukraine “has the right to defend itself and, according to international law, the right to self-defense does not end at the border, but it is possible to strike legitimate targets in enemy territory”. However, he added “it is up to the allies to decide” what weapons each intends to supply to Kiev and with what limitations on use, but it must also be clear that “no single weapon will allow us to win the war”.

Mediterranean and Southern Front, in Rutte's intentions, do not seem to have a particular priority. Italy did not welcome at all, two months ago, the news that the Spaniard Javier Colomina had been appointed as special representative of the NATO secretary general for the Mediterranean. It is difficult to imagine that Rutte will replace him immediately even if there is an Italian candidate, namely General Alessio Nardi who had collaborated in drafting the experts' report on the Mediterranean.

Rutte will certainly have to face the succession of the Deputy Secretary General after the "number two" of NATO, the Romanian Mircea Geoana, left Brussels on September 10th to quickly return to his homeland where he intends to run as the new President of the Republic. The German could take his place Boris Ruge Director of Political Affairs although it is not excluded that the position could be filled by an American. How much to Italy the new Chairman of the NATO Military Committee who carries out operational assessments and reports directly to the Atlantic Council will be Admiral from next January 1st Giuseppe Cavo Dragone former Chief of the Defence Staff.

A chorus of positive comments from the West on the nomination of Rutte from American President Joe Biden as President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen to the same Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. For the Kremlin, however, "with Mark Rutte at the helm of NATO nothing will change". "We expect NATO to remain firm in its policies", the spokesman for the Russian presidency Dmitry Peskov told journalists, recalling that Vladimir Putin knows Rutte well, with whom he spent "hours" at the negotiating table trying to build a "good and pragmatic" relationship, but then things changed.

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