Mark Rutte, the man who can keep the Western alliance together
Recently, Mark Rutte became the Secretary General of NATO. Who is this man, who was the highest manager of the Netherlands for 14 years? Does he have the ability to manage unexpected current events and how could his good relationship with Italy play a role in his new job in Brussels?
“Hello! Hiiii! Hahaha. How are you doing?” These are well-known words of Mark Rutte when he is in public and greets common Dutch people. The happy-looking politician was Prime Minister of the Netherlands from August 2010 to July 2024. Shortly before his last day in office, it was announced that he would become the next Secretary General of NATO, a job many think will fit him best. As Prime Minister, Rutte always had to work out compromises and grew into a well-known member of the European Council.
Who is Mark Rutte? First, he has been a politician for almost his entire professional life. As a young man, he joined the JOVD, the youth organization of the conservative-liberal VVD, and became chairman. After his studies, he went to work for the multinational Dutch company Unilever, after which he joined the government in 2002. Rutte became Deputy Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, and later Deputy Minister of Education. In 2006, he became the leader of the VVD. The party lost the 2006 elections and went into opposition but won the next elections four years later.
In 2010, Rutte forged a right-wing minority cabinet with the Christian Democrats (CDA). The combination received parliamentary support from the radical right-wing PVV of Geert Wilders. In 2012, when Wilders did not want support austerity due to the bad economic situation, the government fell. The following snap election – unlike in Italy, it is customary to not end the term of office by forming a new coalition or transitional government – was won by Rutte again. This time he formed his second cabinet with the Social Democrats and later on, in 2017, he won the elections again.
Because the Social Democrats had lost, Rutte sought new cooperation with the CDA. This time, he included the left-liberal D66 and the evangelical Christian Union in the government. After being in the top job for almost eleven years, he won the 2021 elections, mainly because many voters saw him as the ideal crisis manager during the Covid-19 pandemic. The same coalition with four parties continued but fell in July 2023 over asylum policy. The right-wing VVD could no longer accept the large numbers of asylum seekers. This time, no compromise could be reached with D66 and the Christian Union, which supported less harsh measures on migration policies.
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Over the years, Rutte’s premiership lost some of its shine. The friendly-looking man turned out to have an aversion to transparency. Members of parliament were annoyed by the way he managed to conceal structural problems, such as the so-called Allowances Affair, in which Dutch parents were given ten high fines because they had received too much subsidizing for their children. When Rutte’s way of operating returned in other issues as well, a phrase was adopted for it: The Rutte Doctrine. In addition, it turned out that he could have a temper, once behind the scenes. In the media and in parliament, he possessed enough rhetorical tricks to talk his way out of difficult situations. Therefore, he outsmarted many.
Rutte announced his departure as prime minister in July 2023, a few days after his fourth cabinet was dissolved. While he had lost some of his shine domestically, he was still much respected abroad. Many saw him as a formidable player on the international stage. Being aware of this, his eyes had been on NATO for a while. It wasn’t always like this. During the early days of his years in the office of prime minister, he focused on domestic policies. But due to various crises in Europe, he was forced to familiarize himself with building better relationships abroad and doing more business in Brussels.
Rutte’s finest hour on the international stage happened at the height of the European migrant crisis. On behalf of the EU, he negotiated with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to stop illegal boat migrants entering from Turkey into the EU. In 2016, an agreement was reached: in exchange for billions of euros from Europe, the Turks would stop the migrants from leaving. The EU-Turkey Refugee Return Agreement or ‘Turkey Deal’ turned out to be a blueprint for later deals with countries at the southern coastline of the Mediterranean, such as Tunisia.
In 2022, Rutte forged a comparable deal in Tunis, together with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He calls the latter his friend. For Rutte, a positive relationship with Italy has been a high priority, due to the fact that the country is an important trading partner for the Netherlands. Italy is the seventh largest trading partner. It is the sixth sales market for Dutch exports and the ninth origin market for imports in the Netherlands. In 2017, King Willem-Alexander paid a glorious state visit to Italy, which was partly prepared by Rutte.
In reality, the relationship between Rutte and Meloni is a good one. In public, he calls her by her first name and in Brussels he sometimes teamed up with her. In the end, Meloni turned out to be one of the biggest supporters of his candidacy at NATO. One can’t become head of the alliance with just the support of Italy. So, during the last two years of his premiership, Rutte travelled to other NATO member states in order to win support. These trips were mostly officially communicated as a ‘visit for bilateral talks’. In the end, only Turkey, Hungary and Romania obstructed, but Rutte also somehow managed to convince them too.
Becoming head of NATO also means you need the support of the two North American member states. For a Dutch politician, it isn’t difficult to think in a transatlantic matter. The Netherlands and Canada, for instance, have been allies since the World War Two – at the time, members of the royal family stayed in Canada – and the alliance with the US is also very old and strong. The transatlantic-minded Rutte worked with three American presidents. His finest hour came in 2018: While at the White House, he stood up against Donald Trump during a press conference, correcting him and contradicting him harshly. In doing so, Rutte gained the President’s respect and impressed his European colleagues.
Should Trump return to the White House, Rutte will be the ideal person to provide him with a rebuttal if necessary. With Rutte as the new Secretary General, the European leaders hope to have someone who can handle Trump. At the same time, the Dutchman has proven to be a compromiser, who has remained friends with almost everybody on the international stage. There were occasional clashes with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and, as always, Rutte was able to smooth them over as well.
Should Trump come to power again, Rutte could also call on his friend Giorgia Meloni for help. Like him, she is able to win others over with her charm. Trump could be even more charmed by her than by him. Next to this, ideologically, Meloni is somewhat closer to Trump’s party. So, she could help Rutte out in case of a dispute with Trump. In case of a Kamala Harris presidency, the Secretary General will have an easier task. Maybe he will be able to convince her to pay a visit to the Netherlands, since Obama’s visit in 2014 was the last of an American president.
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Moreover, the war in Ukraine will be one of Rutte’s biggest challenges. He knows Vladimir Putin well and has constructed a fine relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It is up to Rutte to keep NATO countries focused on supporting Ukraine to win the war against Russia and to keep pressure on the Kremlin. Since the 2014 MH17 airplane disaster – a wrongly fired Russian rocket killed almost 300 passengers – Rutte has been dealing with Moscow fiercely. So, he knows the drill.
Final question: How long will Mark Rutte be head of NATO? The answer: for five years or longer in case of satisfaction in the alliance. During its 75-year existence, the transatlantic-minded Dutch delivered three secretaries general: Dirk Stikker (1961-1964), Joseph Luns (1971-1984) and Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (2004-2009). As Rutte worked to become the longest serving Dutch Prime Minister – taking the record away from Ruud Lubbers – he could also aim to break the record at his new job. Such an opportunity lies in a future far away.
More important are the upcoming months. The outcome of the US presidential election and a possible Russian spring offensive in 2025 won’t leave him unchallenged. These events will be decisive for the foreseeable future of Rutte, NATO and the West. If there is one man who could keep the Western alliance together, it must be this Dutchman.
