The likely nomination of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as NATO's next leader will raise eyebrows among newer member states, POLITICO said in a report published on Monday. While Rutte's candidacy has been backed by the U.S., the U.K., France and Germany,  and a dozen countries, notably the allies from countries bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, are far more lukewarm towards Rutte's candidacy.

"What moral credibility does this guy have?" POLITICO reported former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves as having asked, in reference to the Netherland's failure to meet its NATO defense spending commitment to two percent of GDP during Rutte's 13 years as prime minister.

"If we think about a geographical balance, it's going to be the fourth [NATO] Secretary-General from the Netherlands," Kallas told POLITICO's Power Play podcast last week. "And then there is a question [of] whether there are first-rank and second-rank countries in NATO."

"Are we equals or are we not equals? So these questions still remain," she added.

POLITICO highlighted how few politicians from Eastern European countries have held top positions in the EU or NATO since their countries joined the two institutions in 2004. Two of the EU's top posts have gone to Poland, the region's biggest country. Former (and current) Prime Minister Donald Tusk served one term as permanent president of the European Council, while another former Polish prime minister, Jerzy Buzek, was president of the European Parliament from 2009-2012.

Currently, the highest ranked politician from the region in the EU is Latvia's Valdis Dombrovskis, who is executive vice President of the European Commission for an economy that works for people. Mircea Geoană  of Romania is NATO's secretary general.

The full POLITICO article is available here.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!