Romanian President Klaus Iohannis was asked if he maintains his candidacy for the NATO leadership and postponed an answer for… tomorrow.
He specified that he will first present these issues in the Supreme Council of National Defense (Thursday, June 20, 2024, starting at 1:00 PM), and then to the public opinion.
"About NATO, more tomorrow. I will present these issues first in the Supreme Council of National Defense, then to the public opinion. But I can assure you that tomorrow afternoon you will be fully informed and we can move forward. Consider this a non-answer and a postponement," stated the head of state.
Yesterday we learned that Hungary no longer opposes the appointment of Mark Rutte as NATO Secretary General. Slovakia will also support him, announced the new Slovak president Peter Pellegrini.
In this new context, Klaus Iohannis remains alone and has not officially withdrawn his own candidacy for the NATO leadership yet.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declared his support on Tuesday for the candidacy of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for this position and estimated that the alliance is very close to making a decision on who will succeed him, after Hungary and Slovakia lifted their objections to Rutte.
"He is a very strong candidate. He has a lot of experience as a prime minister. He is a close friend and colleague," Stoltenberg said about Rutte in Washington, where he met with US President Joe Biden on Monday and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, reported EFE agency.
NATO makes decisions by consensus, so any candidate needs the support of all 32 allies.