[Nicky91]

Mark Rutte, who looks set to be NATO's next secretary-general, is a staunch ally of Ukraine and a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who honed his skills as a political dealmaker during nearly 14 years as Dutch prime minister.
Rutte, 57, has been one of the driving forces behind Europe's military support for Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion, and says defeat on the battlefield for Moscow is vital to secure peace in Europe.

His view is heavily influenced by the downing of an airliner over Ukraine in 2014, which the Netherlands blames on Russia, and in which 196 of the 298 victims were Dutch. NATO must be powerful to counter Moscow, and other European Union leaders must not be naive about Putin's Russia, he says.
"He won’t stop at Ukraine, if we don’t stop him now. This war is bigger than Ukraine itself. It’s about upholding the international rule of law," Rutte told the United Nations in September 2022, seven months after Russia's full-scale invasion.

Rutte first took office in 2010 and went on to become the longest-serving Dutch prime minister before announcing last year that he planned to leave national politics.
After the downing of flight MH17, he went from being primarily domestically focused to one of the EU's main dealmakers, playing an important role in European debates on immigration, debt and the response to COVID-19.
Under his leadership, the Netherlands has increased defence spending to more than the 2% threshold of GDP required of NATO members, providing F-16 fighter jets, artillery, drones and ammunition to Kyiv and investing heavily in its own military.
His path to replace Jens Stoltenberg, who steps down as NATO chief in October after nearly a decade at the helm, became all but certain after Hungary and Slovakia indicated on June 18 that they would back his nomination to lead the 32-state alliance.
That left only Romania, whose President Klaus Iohannis was also vying for the job, opposed to Rutte's candidacy.
Stoltenberg said on Tuesday Rutte was a "very strong" candidate to replace him and a decision was near.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...ce-2024-06-18/



Mr Bottom Rock he still hasn't found that bottom rock in the MH17 shootdown either


so i guess Putin doesn't need to fear anything from NATO anymore, with slow snail Rutte