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Mark Rutte Seals NATO Top Job

FILE - Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, speaks during a joint press conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut, File)
FILE - Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, speaks during a joint press conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut, File)
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Mark Rutte Seals NATO Top Job

FILE - Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, speaks during a joint press conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut, File)
FILE - Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, speaks during a joint press conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut, File)

Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Thursday clinched the race to become the next head of NATO after sole challenger Romanian President Klaus Iohannis pulled out.

The veteran politician, 57, is expected to be formally named by NATO's 32 nations in the coming days and should take over when current chief Jens Stoltenberg's term ends on October 1 after a decade in charge.

Rutte will come in at a perilous moment for the Western allies as Russia's war in Ukraine drags on and Donald Trump battles to reclaim the presidency in the United States come November.

After staking his claim for the job last year following the collapse of his coalition, staunch Ukraine backer Rutte quickly won the support of heavyweights the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

But he had to use all the diplomatic skills gleaned during almost 14 years in charge of the Netherlands to win over hold-outs led by Türkiye and Hungary.

Rutte overcame Turkish reticence with an April visit to Istanbul, before finally sealing a deal with Hungary's Viktor Orban at a European Union summit this week.

That left the last sticking point as Iohannis, whose surprise bid had ruffled feathers among allies banking on a smooth appointment for Rutte ahead of a NATO summit in Washington next month.

Diplomat and officials at NATO said a meeting of alliance ambassadors would likely be convened next week to approve Rutte's appointment.

As it announced Iohannis's decision, Romania's supreme defense council said it would donate one of the country's two operational Patriot systems to Ukraine, responding to pleas from Kyiv to its allies for more air defense assistance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Romania's decision "will bolster our air shield and help us better protect our people and critical infrastructure from Russian air terror".
The supreme council, which is chaired by Iohannis, said the president had informed NATO last week of his decision to withdraw and Romania would now support Rutte's candidacy.

Under Rutte, the Netherlands has in recent years ramped up defense spending above NATO's target of 2% of GDP. It is providing F-16 fighter jets, artillery, drones and ammunition to Kyiv as well as investing heavily in its own military.

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UN Chief and Pope Call for Nations to End the Use of Antipersonnel Land Mines

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
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UN Chief and Pope Call for Nations to End the Use of Antipersonnel Land Mines

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)

The UN head, Pope Francis and others called Monday for nations to end the production and use of land mines, even as their deployment globally grows.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a message to delegates at the fifth review of the International Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, that 25 years after it went into force some parties had renewed the use of antipersonnel mines and some are falling behind in their commitments to destroy the weapons.

“I call on states parties to meet their obligations and ensure compliance to the convention, while addressing humanitarian and developmental impacts through financial and technical support,” Guterres said at the opening of the conference in Cambodia.

“I also encourage all states that have not yet acceded to the convention to join the 164 that have done so. A world without anti-personnel mines is not just possible. It is within reach.”

In a statement read on behalf of Pope Francis, his deputy Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that antipersonnel land mines and victim-activated explosive devices continue to be used. Even after many years of hostilities, “these treacherous devices continue to cause terrible suffering to civilians, especially children.”

“Pope Francis urges all states that have not yet done so to accede to the convention, and in the meantime to cease immediately the production and use of land mines,” he said.

The treaty was signed in 1997 and went into force in 1999, but nearly three dozen countries have not acceded to it, including some key current and past producers and users of land mines such as the United States, China, India, Pakistan, South Korea and Russia.

In a report released last week by Landmine Monitor, the international watchdog said land mines were still actively being used in 2023 and 2024 by Russia, Myanmar, Iran and North Korea. It added that non-state armed groups in at least five places — Colombia, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and the Gaza Strip — had used mines as well, and there were claims of their use in more than a half dozen countries in or bordering the Sahel region of Africa.

At least 5,757 people were killed and wounded by land mines and unexploded ordnance last year, primarily civilians of whom a third were children, Landmine Monitor reported.

Landmine Monitor said Russia had been using antipersonnel mines “extensively” in Ukraine, and just a week ago, the US, which has been providing Ukraine with anti-tank mines throughout the war, announced it would start providing Kyiv with antipersonnel mines as well to try and stall Russian progress on the battlefield.

“Antipersonnel mines represent a clear and present danger for civilians,” Guterres said in his statement. “Even after fighting stops, these horrifying and indiscriminate weapons can remain, trapping generations of people in fear.”

He praised Cambodia for its massive demining efforts and for sharing its experience with others and contributing to UN peacekeeping missions.

Cambodia was one of the world's most mine-affected countries after three decades of war and disorder that ended in 1998, with some 4 million to 6 million mines or unexploded munitions littering the country.

Its efforts to rid the country of mines has been enormous, and Landmine Monitor said Cambodia and Croatia accounted for 75% of all land cleared of mines in 2023, with more than 200 square kilometers (80 square miles).

Prime Minister Hun Manet joined the calls for more nations to join the Mine Ban Treaty, and thanked the international community for supporting Cambodia's mine clearance efforts. He said they have reduced land mine casualties from more than 4,300 in 1996 to fewer than 100 annually over the last decade.

“Cambodia has turned its tragic history into a powerful lesson for the world, advocating against the use of anti-personnel mines and highlighting their long-term consequences,” he said.