Romanian president backed out of race for NATO Secretary General for unity, he says

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said that, regarding the withdrawal of his candidacy for the NATO leadership, he ultimately decided that the fate of NATO is much more important than his political fate.

Before a final conclusion was reached, he decided to withdraw from the race to allow the appointment of a NATO Secretary General.

"There were interesting negotiations, there were discussions that I had, which I would classify as very good, very open, informal, all one-on-one discussions, and in the end, I decided that NATO's fate is much more important than my political fate and, before there was a general final conclusion, I decided accordingly to withdraw from the race, to allow the appointment of a NATO Secretary General before this Summit," said president Klaus Iohannis, cited by Digi24.

He added that "it is good, sometimes, to see the bigger picture and act accordingly."

At the end of June, Mark Rutte was officially designated by the 32 NATO member states as the Alliance's secretary general. After Klaus Iohannis withdrew his candidacy, Rutte received the support of all member states. He will take office on October 1, 2024, when the current Secretary General's term expires.

Last month, Klaus Iohannis’ candidacy for the top NATO job was left without supporters after both Hungary and Slovakia announced that they backed the candidacy of outgoing Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte. The latter had confirmed that if he became the Secretary General of NATO, Hungary would not be forced to participate in the Alliance's activities in Ukraine.

(Photo source: Presidency.ro)