In the midst of the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war as well as the more general challenges that the Western Alliance must face, the new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is visiting Athens today, Tuesday, November 26, where at 12:00 he will be received by Kyriakos Mitsotakis at Maximos Palace. As usual, on this first working trip to Greece, the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands (for 14 consecutive years) will meet both with the Minister of Foreign Affairs George Gerapetritis (11:00), while earlier he will visit the Ministry of Defense in order to talk with Nikos Dendias .
Mr. Rutte, who was on Sunday (24/11) in Turkey where he met with Tayyip Erdoğan, is first expected to highlight the role of Greece as a force that acts in favor of peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, while it is considered certain that he will and a special reference to the country for the faithful observance – and indeed over time – of the NATO commitment to invest more than 2% of the annual GDP in military equipment, which is now it is seen as almost a prerequisite by re-elected US President Donald Trump to all partners in order for the United States to remain committed to the core principles of the Alliance.
In the last few months, NATO also appreciates the positive mood of Athens for the continuation of the Greek-Turkish dialogue, despite the obstacles, but also for maintaining calm in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. After all, one of the messages that Mr. Rut in his baggage, both to Athens and to Ankara, is that the two main pillars of NATO’s south-eastern wing must continue to behave as allies, especially if one considers the fluid geopolitical landscape not only in the wider region but also in general .
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Mr. Rutte is an old acquaintance of Athens, since as Prime Minister of the Netherlands he co-existed for at least seven years with Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Summits, with the two men maintaining good channels of communication, but also a joint step on a number of key issues, such as need to strengthen European defense autonomy and immigration. Especially the issue of common European defense is expected to be particularly prominent from the Greek side, with Athens recently calling for immediate and effective action, even having to show tangible examples: Whether this is defense cooperation with France and the purchase of the Rafale and Belara, or the participation in the European operation “Shields” for the protection of navigation in the Red Sea. As, of course, they note from the government staff, the aim of strengthening European defense is to act in a complementary and not competitive manner with NATO.
In the Greek capital they know that the Western Alliance has to face another challenge from the beginning of 2025: Donald Trump in the leadership of the United States. With a major question mark is the attitude of the American president in the war in Ukraine, as a possible withdrawal of economic and military support to Kiev will bring the remaining members of the Alliance and especially the Europeans in front of a difficult situation as the effective defense against Russian revisionism will be directly at stake . Mr. Rutte is expected to express his support in Ukraine, while in Athens and in other European capitals they do not ignore the fact that the current Secretary General was probably the most reliable in the eyes of Mr. Trump interlocutor, with the two men appearing during the eccentric millionaire’s first presidency to have found a constructive way to communicate – to such an extent that other European leaders called Mr. Root “The Trump Whisperer.”
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Regarding the infamous, mainly due to Trump rhetoric, “2%”, it is worth noting that while in 2014 only three countries crossed the threshold (USA-Great Britain-Greece), today the number has risen to 23 out of 32. However, from the first public interventions of Mr. But it is clear that the new Secretary General includes in his thinking the geopolitical concerns of the United States, without isolating the European security system from the Indo-Pacific region, also reducing the danger of the Russian threat to its real dimension. Putin, Rutte recently wrote in Politico, “relies on China to prop up Russia’s economy. It relies on Iran for the deadly drones and missiles that have murdered thousands of Ukrainians. And it depends on North Korea for millions of rounds, ballistic missiles and, now, troops.”
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Source: www.zougla.gr
