Official: Viktor Orban decides to support Mark Rutte for NATO Secretary General / Rutte only needs Romania’s backing to secure consensus

Hungary is prepared to support the candidacy of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for the position of NATO Secretary General, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced Tuesday in a post on the social media platform X, as reported by AFP and Reuters, and cited by Agerpres.

Mark Rutte „confirmed” that, if he becomes NATO Secretary General, Hungary would not be required to participate in the North Atlantic Alliance’s activities in Ukraine. Therefore, „given this commitment, Hungary is ready to support him,” stated Orban, who had a discussion with the interim Dutch Prime Minister in Brussels on Monday.

Orban had previously refused to support Rutte, citing a statement from Rutte three years ago when the Dutch Prime Minister said Hungary needed to be „brought to its knees” and had „no place in the European Union” after Hungary passed a minority protection law that bans materials about homosexuality in schools, according to Agerpres.

Earlier on Tuesday, the new Slovak President Peter Pellegrini announced that Slovakia would support Rutte’s candidacy but requested his support in return for ensuring Slovakia’s air defense. Slovakia has been left without protection of its airspace after the previous government, led by Robert Fico, donated its only S-300 air defense system to Ukraine.

Emphasizing that Slovakia would have preferred a NATO Secretary General „geographically” closer to Central and Eastern Europe, such as Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who is also a candidate, the Slovak President further specified that he asked Rutte to consider the geographical principle when filling positions below that of NATO Secretary General.

Having received the support of Slovakia and Hungary, Rutte now only needs Romania’s backing to secure consensus for his appointment as NATO Secretary General.