Mark Rutte’s first NATO task: Find a right-hand woman

BRUSSELS — Before he starts his new stint as NATO’s chief, Mark Rutte is already going through a few CVs from those seeking to be his right-hand person.

The current deputy, Mircea Geoană, who has held the position since 2019, is expected to step down to run in the Romanian presidential election in November, NATO officials told POLITICO.

A senior NATO diplomat from Western Europe said there’s a general consensus among allies that an Eastern European should be appointed as Rutte’s deputy. The diplomat, like other NATO diplomats quoted in this story, was granted anonymity to share the internal sentiment.

The talk at NATO headquarters centers around two female ex-officials from North Macedonia and Bulgaria, two Balkan countries once subsumed under Soviet control until the end of the Cold War.

“The post may well go to an Eastern European woman,” former NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu told POLITICO. “Not least because of the public push to appoint one as secretary-general instead of Rutte.”

Rutte will take the helm at NATO on Oct. 2, at a time when the military alliance sets its sights on an urgent mission to shore up the eastern flank in order to preempt any potential Russian aggression. Germany, for instance, estimates that Russia could be ready militarily to attack NATO countries in five to eight years’ time if it chose to do so.

That makes a deep knowledge in kremlinology relevant when it comes to Rutte’s pick for his deputy.

North Macedonian former Defense Minister Radmila Šekerinska’s name has been widely circulated, according to a NATO diplomat and senior NATO official. If chosen, she would be the most senior NATO official ever from the Western Balkan region outside of the European Union. The country joined NATO four years ago, with Šekerinska playing a key role in its membership.

The pro-West Šekerinska is currently a vice president of the Europe-wide Party of European Socialists. In an interview following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she rejected Russia’s claim that NATO’s eastward expansion was a “sinister Western plan.”

“On the contrary, the initially large NATO members did not have a particular appetite for enlargement,” she said.

Šekerinska declined to comment.

Majda Ruge, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, praised her as an ideal candidate.

Rutte will take the helm at NATO on Oct. 2. | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images

“For the next [deputy secretary-general], NATO will need a senior figure who is highly competent, has balls, is smart about Russia and also understands the challenges in the Western Balkans. Radmila Šekerinska fits that profile perfectly,” said Ruge, who’s an expert on the Balkan region.

Another contender is Bulgaria’s former Deputy Prime Minister and former European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, according to two officials with direct knowledge of her plans.

“There are rumours around the former European Commissioner and Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel,” Lungescu said.

Gabriel has not replied to a request for comment.

The Bulgarian and North Macedonian delegations to NATO have not commented on the candidacies. NATO has declined to comment.

Bulgaria has been in the spotlight due to its political elites’ close ties with Russia. In April, outgoing Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov warned in an interview with POLITICO that “Russia will do whatever possible to recover its strong influence in Bulgaria.” Sofia has also been drawing up deals to boost Moscow’s role as the dominant energy supplier in southeastern Europe, despite the EU country’s rhetorical support for Ukraine.

Both countries, however, are beset with corruption concerns.

According to Transparency International, Bulgaria is ranked 67th worldwide in its Corruption Perceptions Index. North Macedonia is ranked 76th.

While the two Balkan candidates are considered front-runners, there are other proposed candidates that are being presented to Rutte. Latvia’s former Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš, who once wanted Rutte’s job, is vying to be his deputy, according to a senior Latvian official who was granted anonymity to speak.

Poland and Turkey — both with serious military establishments — are considering offering their own candidates, according to two NATO diplomats. However, Poland is beleaguered by infighting between President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The deputy secretary-general role has increased in importance over the last decade or so, according to Lungescu. The primary role of the office holder is to stand in for the boss and chair the twice-weekly meetings of the 32 ambassadors in the North Atlantic Council or any emergency meeting, including the NATO-Ukraine Council.

In May 2021, Geoană chaired the informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin when NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg was diagnosed with Covid.