journalist observation丨rutte faces a “term without a honeymoon” as the new nato secretary-general
2024-10-02
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this article is reproduced from [cctv news client];
on october 1, former dutch prime minister mark rutte officially became the new secretary-general of nato.it is generally believed that rutte will face many challenges during his tenure., some western media even described it as "a term without a honeymoon."
nato countries are deeply divided over defense spending
on october 1, rutte gave his first speech as nato secretary-general:nato members must increase defense spending, and prioritized defense spending. rutte said that the eu is strengthening its defense capabilities and supporting joint procurement and defense production. eight european members of nato have yet to achieve the defense spending target of 2% of gdp set 10 years ago; while eastern european countries are promoting discussions to increase the minimum defense spending target from 2% to 3% of each country's gdp.
currently, nato countries are deeply divided over increasing defense spending.during his tenure as prime minister of the netherlands, rutte himself repeatedly refused to increase defense spending before the outbreak of the russia-ukraine conflict in 2022.. some western media called rutte's appointment as nato secretary-general a "term without a honeymoon" to describe the embarrassing situation rutte currently faces.
there is uncertainty about the future relationship between nato and the united states
in addition, just one month after rutte took office, hewill face the most severe geopolitical challenge - the us presidential election. given that the two candidates, trump and harris, have different attitudes towards nato,uncertainty surrounds nato-u.s. relationship。
whether to continue military aid to ukraine is difficult to balance within nato
some analysts believe thatrutte has difficulty striking a balance within nato on military support for ukraine. on the one hand, some member states have always opposed military support for ukraine. in addition, more and more nato countries are gradually showing weakness in military aid, and their military industry capabilities are insufficient, resulting in the inability to fulfill their military aid commitments. on the other hand, regarding the issue of weapons for ukraine, many nato member states have put pressure on the united states to lift restrictions on ukraine's use of western weapons to strike deep targets in russia's mainland. the biden administration believes that this move will escalate the situation.
in addition, rutte will also face dissatisfaction with him from the baltic states, questioning his defense spending record and lack of engagement with the region during his tenure as dutch prime minister.
