Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob on Thursday left open the possibility of supporting the candidacy of President Klaus Iohannis for the post of NATO chairman, although Ljubljana initially announced that it would support Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. News.ro.

Robert Golob met with current NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday, and at a joint press conference, the Slovenian journalist asked the prime minister if he supported Mark Rutte.

“As for the new secretary general, the truth is that about a month ago we expressed our support for Mark Rutte. The truth is that Mr. Rutte was the only candidate at the time, so obviously we expressed our support then without hesitation,” said Robert Golob.

Meanwhile, Klaus Iohannis also announced his candidacy.

“I took it very seriously,” the Slovenian prime minister testified, explaining that Ljubljana especially shares the Romanian president’s point of view regarding the “regionality of leadership positions.”

“And we continue to analyze it (candidacy for the head of NATO – no), which means that now, since there are two candidates, we will take them both seriously,” said the prime minister of Slovenia.

“We are not saying that we are still reviewing our decision, but we are analyzing both, and in the end we will have to make a unanimous decision,” Holob wanted to clarify.

He said that Slovenia will do everything possible to promote the candidate who gets the most votes.

“Now it seems to be Mark Rutte. But I would say that we will have to wait a few more weeks to be decisive in this regard,” the Slovenian prime minister added, implying that for now it is an open race between the Dutch prime minister and President Klaus Johannis. and a possible overthrow of the situation, reports News.ro.

We will remind, on March 12, Klaus Iohannis announced his candidacy for the post of NATO head at a specially convened press conference in Bucharest.

This is in the conditions when Mark Rutte was considered the favorite for the post of NATO Secretary General. The United States, Great Britain and France announced on February 22 that they are supporting the Prime Minister of the Netherlands to succeed Jens Stoltenberg as NATO Secretary General, giving the Dutch politician a strong position to win the post, Reuters writes.

• On the same topic: Cholaku claims that Iohannis has a chance to become the Secretary General of NATO

Rütte about Johannis: A wonderful person

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, on Thursday reacted to Klaus Johannis’ statement on March 12 about his candidacy for the post of NATO Secretary General. The Prime Minister of the Netherlands said of his rival at the head of the North Atlantic Alliance that “he is a wonderful person”, but refused to comment on the chances of the President of Romania.

Klaus Johannis and Mark Rutte Photo: Hollandse Hoogte / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

Rutte made these statements on Thursday, in Brussels, at a meeting of the European Council, in which Klaus Iohannis also participates. The reporter asked the Dutch Prime Minister about President Johannes, who “thinks he is a better NATO leader” than he is: “I don’t know how far apart you are sitting at the table, but how comfortable will it be? Have you tried making signs with your foot under the table or is that too far?”.

Rutte on Johannis: “He is a trustworthy leader for his country”

“I’m definitely not going to do that because he’s a great person. He was president of Romania for 10 years and I almost always did well. He is a reliable leader for his country. Regarding NATO, as you know, I’m not saying anything,” Mark Rutte said, according to images released by Digi 24.

When asked whether he believed that Johannis would also be a trustworthy NATO leader, the Dutch prime minister again evaded the answer, stressing that he would not comment on the matter.

What Johannis says about Rutte

Also on Thursday at the European Council in Brussels, Klaus Johannis, answering questions from journalists, said that he has an “absolutely normal relationship” with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands and that none of them “want that because of this competition projects or relations, which have been built for years will be damaged.”

“(…) we meet and discuss with Prime Minister Mark Rutte at every Council and every summit. We have a completely normal relationship, none of us wants to use this competition to destroy projects or relationships that have been built up for years, on the contrary. So it’s really a constructive competition,” said Iohannis, when asked if he had also discussed with Mark Rutte and how he took the announcement of his candidacy for the post of NATO leader.