BRUSSELS – On 26 June, the North Atlantic Council decided to appoint Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the next Secretary General of NATO, succeeding Jens Stoltenberg. Rutte will assume his functions as Secretary General from 1 October 2024, when Stoltenberg’s term expires after ten years at the helm of the Alliance. Rutte has been Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010. He was regarded as the favourite to succeed Stoltenberg in the preceding months, with his selection confirmed informally last week.