Iohannis formally exited the race on Thursday when he told his security council that they should back Rutte for the top job in NATO.
Romania is the only country in the 32-member Western security alliance that has yet to approve of Rutte for the job, and with Iohannis gone, the Dutch leader appears set to assume the role.
“It took a very long time.,” Rutte told reporters on Thursday, according to The Associated Press. “It’s a complicated process, but it’s an honor that it appears to have happened.”
Hungary had been a holdout, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban indicated earlier this week that he would support Rutte. That came after Rutte signaled he would not pressure Budapest to back new support for Ukraine amid its war with Russia.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has been the familiar chief of the alliance for the past decade. His term has been extended four times, but his current term ends in October.
Rutte will be taking over the alliance as NATO supports Ukraine in the fight against Russia, the largest land war on Europe since World War II, and as allies seek to increase defense spending.
And former President Trump, the presumptive 2024 GOP Republican nominee, has threatened to not defend allies who don’t pay enough, spurring fears across Europe.
NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said in a statement on social media platform X that Rutte “is one of the few European politicians to have developed a good working relationship not just with Biden, but also with Trump.”
“That could prove a key asset for NATO,” Lungescu wrote.
The Russian threat has increased NATO defense spending. Stoltenberg announced earlier this week that in 2024, a record 23 allies, including the Netherlands for the first time, will meet the minimum requirement of 2 percent of economic output spending on defense.
Rutte, who has spent more than a dozen years as the prime minister of the Netherlands, will bring a wealth of experience to the job.
He has dealt with multiple coalitions as the Dutch prime minister, possesses extensive foreign policy experience and was known as “Teflon Mark” because political scandals did not stick to him.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the Netherlands has also full-fledged support for Kyiv, including some $3 billion pledged for this year.
It’s not clear when Rutte will be formally accepted into the job, but NATO can hold a meeting or approve him at a July summit in Washington.
