A critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands has been elected as the new Secretary General of NATO.


Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will take over as NATO Secretary General on October 1.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis announced last week that he was withdrawing from the race for NATO secretary-general, after which Mark Rutte was now elected unopposed.

Mark Rutte has been the Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010, but he is soon to step down.



Mark Root is a supporter of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and has been supporting Ukraine in his country's war against Russia.


He also has good relations with the leaders of the United States and the European Union.

57-year-old Mark Root said in a post on X (Twitter) on being elected Secretary General of NATO that it is a great honor to be elected Secretary General of NATO.



He said that NATO must be powerful to counter Moscow.


Stoltenberg, the current Secretary General of NATO, remained in office for almost a decade.






He said on the election of Mark Root that he is a strong leader.

Stoltenberg said he was leaving NATO in good hands.


The statement issued by Russia said that the appointment of Mark Root is unlikely to change the overall position of the alliance.