Wednesday, Jun 26, 2024 2:32 AMUpdated Wednesday, Jun. 26, 2024 2:41 AM
FILE - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, greets Netherland's Prime Minister Mark Rutte during arrivals for a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. NATO on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 appointed Mark Rutte as its next secretary-general, putting the outgoing Dutch prime minister in charge of the world's biggest security organization at a critical time for European security as war rages in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO appointed Mark Rutte as its next secretary-general on Wednesday, putting the outgoing Dutch prime minister in charge of the world’s biggest security organization at a critical time for European security as war rages in Ukraine.
Rutte’s appointment was sealed by NATO ambassadors during a meeting at the 32-nation alliance’s headquarters in Brussels. U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts will formally welcome him to their table at a summit in Washington on July 9-11.
The outgoing Dutch premier will take over from the current secretary general, Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg, on Oct. 1. Stoltenberg spent more than a decade at the helm. His mandate was repeatedly extended, in part to provide continuity after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
FILE - Netherland's Prime Minister Mark Rutte arrives for an EU summit in Brussels, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. NATO on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 appointed Mark Rutte as its next secretary-general, putting the outgoing Dutch prime minister in charge of the world's biggest security organization at a critical time for European security as war rages in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
FILE - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, talks to Netherland's Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the end of an international ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day at Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, Thursday, June 6, 2024. NATO on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 appointed Mark Rutte as its next secretary-general, putting the outgoing Dutch prime minister in charge of the world's biggest security organization at a critical time for European security as war rages in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
FILE - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, left, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte shake hands for the cameras prior to a meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. NATO on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 appointed Mark Rutte as its next secretary-general, putting the outgoing Dutch prime minister in charge of the world's biggest security organization at a critical time for European security as war rages in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
