Rutte is the favorite to succeed Jens Stoltenberg at the helm of the Atlantic alliance and is one of the European leaders most critical of the reforms undertaken by the Viktor Orban administration.

This refusal of support from Budapest may hinder the aspirations of the current Prime Minister of the Netherlands, who raised the possibility that Hungarians “would kneeling under external political pressure,” according to statements released by his administration.

However, the Dutch head of government is backed by the United States and other significant allies, although NATO operates by consensus and partners such as Poland and Türkiye have also failed to express a clear position on the issue.

After three extensions of his term in office, the last two forced among other things by the lack of candidates, Stoltenberg is in his last months at the head of the military bloc and, presumably, the handover will take place in July, during the leaders’ summit in Washington.

jg/arm/ro/dg