Her backing is a major win for Rutte, who has been struggling to get support beyond Western Europe and North America.
NATO, declared “brain dead” by French President Emmanuel Macron back in 2019, has regained importance thanks to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, welcoming two new members — Sweden and Finland — in recent months.
However, a potential return of NATO-skeptic former U.S. President Donald Trump to the White House has raised fears in Europe that Washington could disengage from the military alliance and Europe’s security.
Earlier today, Kallas had to shoot down an April Fools’ hoax which said she had the support of heavyweights including the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom to lead NATO.
Rutte’s path to the job became clearer when one of his rivals, Latvian Foreign Minister Krišjānis Kariņš, had to resign because of a flight spending scandal.
But Rutte still faces competition from Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who announced a surprise bid last month, arguing NATO would benefit from the perspective of Eastern Europe.
Over the weekend, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spelled out his conditions to support Rutte’s bid, which include having the “sensitivities” of non-EU countries taken into account. Hungary currently opposes the Dutch leader’s candidacy.