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Hungary and Slovakia will not oppose Rutte's appointment as head of NATO

2024-06-18 14:55:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Hungary and Slovakia will not oppose Rutte's appointment as head of NATO

Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte

Dutch media say that Hungary has given up its opposition to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte becoming the next head of NATO, following meetings in Brussels. Slovakia's president earlier on June 18 also signaled his country's possible support.

NATO is seeking consensus among its 32 member states for someone to succeed Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg as alliance chief when he leaves in October.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany and Turkey have said they will support Rutte's candidacy.

If reports that Hungary and Slovakia now support the Dutch prime minister are confirmed, Romania would remain the last hurdle.

All 32 members of the military alliance must approve a candidate for the four-year term.

RTL News on June 18 quoted unnamed sources as saying that Budapest "no longer opposes [Rutte's] candidacy" after a meeting between Rutte and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the sidelines of a summit of EU leaders.

Hungarian Prime Minister's spokesman Zoltan Kovacs confirmed on the social network X that Orban and Rutte had met late on June 17 ahead of the EU summit to focus on "bilateral and international issues".

Dutch newspaper NOS quoted Orbán's spokesman as saying that the Hungarian prime minister and Rutte had a "good conversation".

There has been no public declaration by Hungarian officials of any change of position.

Orban said earlier this month he would end his opposition to Rutte's NATO candidacy if he apologized for recent criticism of his government in Budapest and allowed Hungary to exclude itself. from the military alliance's aid plans for Ukraine.

Rutte said on June 17 that he remained "cautiously optimistic about Hungary".

Then on June 18, Slovakia's new president, Peter Pellegrini, said his country is prepared to back the Dutch prime minister for the top NATO job.

"After a final discussion with Mark Rutte and consultation with the Slovak government, Slovakia may consider Mark Rutte as NATO chief," Reuters quoted Pellegrini as saying.

Slovaks are among the most pro-Russian members of the EU and NATO, and left-wing populist Prime Minister Robert Fico halted arms shipments to Ukraine after his appointment in October.

Like Orban, Fico has publicly opposed Ukraine's eventual NATO membership.

Orban has been a staunch critic of sanctions against Russia and direct military aid to Kiev since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began two years ago.

He has continued visits and other diplomatic steps in Moscow, despite calls from the West for unity in the face of the Russian threat.

Stoltenberg traveled to Hungary on June 12 and emerged from a meeting with Orban saying that Budapest had agreed not to block alliance support for Ukraine, but had decided not to provide troops or funds to help the war-torn country. Rel