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Rutte lacks only Hungary, Romania's support to become NATO secretary general — media

Romanian officials indicated in April that they would not oppose Mark Rutte's appointment if he committed to prioritizing security issues in Eastern Europe and increasing the region's representation in the alliance

BRUSSELS, June 18. /TASS/. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte lacks support only from Hungary and Romania to become the new NATO secretary general, Bloomberg reported.

According to the agency, the other 30 NATO countries have already come out in favor of his candidacy. The last country to support Rutte was Slovakia. President Peter Pellegrini said the previous day that he would support Rutte's candidacy if he would ensure that the alliance protects the country's airspace after the transfer of military aid to Ukraine.

Romanian officials indicated in April that they would not oppose Rutte's appointment if he committed to prioritizing security issues in Eastern Europe and increasing the region's representation in the alliance, Bloomberg said. However, Bucharest has not yet completely endorsed the Dutch prime minister.

Earlier, the Financial Times newspaper quoted sources as saying that Rutte promised his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban not to prevent Budapest from refusing to provide military assistance to Kiev within NATO if Hungary agrees to his candidacy for the post of the alliance's secretary general. He also said that in the coming days he would "write a letter to the Hungarian prime minister," which should remove all contradictions between them.

The pledge by the Dutch prime minister came after months of Hungary blocking Rutte's candidacy for NATO secretary general, the newspaper explained.

The candidacy of the new NATO secretary general will be approved at the alliance summit in Washington in July. Earlier, 29 out of 32 NATO countries expressed support for Rutte's candidacy. Orban said he opposed Rutte because he proposed to "bring Hungary to its knees" and exclude it from the European Union. The Hungarian prime minister also said that he would like to meet and talk to Rutte to clarify some issues concerning his attitude towards Hungary.

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