Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte officially took over the post of Secretary General of NATO on October 1. He replaced Jens Stoltenberg in this position.
This became known from a broadcast from the NATO headquarters.
"Iʼm handing over the post to you, Mark... Iʼm handing over this gavel of NATO chairmanship to you and invite you to sit in the chair and assume the position of chairman of the North Atlantic Council," Stoltenberg said.
Rutte called "keeping NATO strong" his first priority in office. He called Ukraine the second priority.
"My second priority is to strengthen our support for Ukraine and bring its efforts closer to joining NATO. Because there can be no security in Europe without a strong, independent Ukraine," he said.
Later, during the approach to journalists after the ceremony, Rutte once again emphasized the priority of Ukraine.
"You mentioned the priorities that we will promote in the future. This is Ukraine. We must ensure that Ukraine wins as a sovereign, independent democratic state," the new head of the Alliance emphasized.
- The media wrote that Stoltenberg will become the new head of the Munich Security Conference after his tenure in NATO. Stoltenberg himself did not confirm or deny this in an interview, saying that he has "many options" regarding his future career.
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