(18 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: The Hague, Netherlands – 27 June 2023
1. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaking with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte ahead of NATO pre-summit meeting
2. Wide of news conference following meeting
3. Rutte speaking
4. Mid of journalist asking question
5. Wide of news conference
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Vilnius, Lithuania – 11 July 2023
6. Various of leaders walking on stage and posing for NATO family photo at summit, including Romanian President Klaus Iohannis
7. Cutaway of summit sign
8. Various of US President Joe Biden arriving, leaders posing for family photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Bucharest, Romania – 28 November 2022
9. Iohannis greeting Stoltenberg at Cotroceni palace
10. Stoltenberg writing in visitors’ book
11. Mid shot of Stoltenberg and Iohannis delivering statements
12. Iohannis speaking
13. Various of Stoltenberg and Iohannis shaking hands and leaving
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Brussels, Belgium – 28 November 2023
14. Various exteriors of NATO headquarters
STORYLINE:
Hungary on Tuesday lifted its veto on Mark Rutte becoming the next head of NATO after the outgoing Dutch prime minister gave written guarantees that he would not force the country to take part in the military alliance’s new plans to provide support to Ukraine.
Rutte’s assurances, contained in a letter to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, remove a major obstacle to him becoming the next NATO secretary-general — the organization’s top civilian official.
It could also allow NATO to put on a major show of unity and demonstrate solidarity with war-ravaged Ukraine when U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet in Washington on July 9-11.
The summit is to mark NATO’s 75th anniversary.
At talks in Budapest last week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who is due to step down in October, clinched a deal with Orbán to ensure that Hungary would not block NATO’s plans for Ukraine.
Stoltenberg accepted that Hungary should not be obligated to provide personnel or funds for the collective effort, but Orbán wanted to hear it from Rutte too.
NATO takes all of its decisions by consensus, giving any of the 32 member countries an effective veto, including on whether they should take part in any joint effort or operation.
Taking to social media, Orbán said it was important for Hungary to establish “that this agreement can stand the test of time.”
He posted Rutte’s letter, dated June 18, a day after the two men had met in Brussels on the sidelines of a European Union summit.
NATO secretaries-general are responsible for chairing meetings and guiding sometimes delicate consultations among member countries to ensure that an organization that operates on consensus can continue to function.
Rutte is far and away the preferred candidate of the majority of NATO allies, including big members like the United States and Germany.
Earlier this year, Turkey voiced opposition to Rutte’s bid but lifted its objections in April.
The last hurdle remains the candidature of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who is nearing the end of his second five-year term as head of state, but officials and analysts believe it will not pose a major problem.
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