BRUSSELS – Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte took over as the Secretary General of NATO from Jens Stoltenberg today. Rutte stated that he would have three priorities as the new Secretary General: ensuring that NATO has the capabilities to protect against any threat, supporting Ukraine in fighting back against Russian aggression and addressing the growing global challenges to Euro-Atlantic security. “I will work with allies to ensure that we invest in the right areas and that we shoulder the burden for our collective defence equitably. We must each pay our fair share”, Rutte said in today’s conference. He also expressed confidence that he would be able to work with both candidates in the current US presidential election.