A few weeks ago, hardly anyone dared take seriously a bid by President Klaus Iohannis to run for NATO leadership.
Admittedly, the first news came anonymously, though the source was credible: Bloomberg news agency. The story was immediately picked up and dissected by other equally reliable European media entities. Iohannis can be accused of many things, but recklessness and a taste for cheap sensationalism of topics of extreme sensitivity are not among them.
In the short time since then, two new substantial elements have surfaced.
One was the confirmation of his made by Klaus Iohannis himself in a public statement, an announcement immediately followed by the publication of his 10-point vision for NATO in POLITICO in its entirety.
And this was another confirmation that the Mark Rutte option, despite appearances, had never been hermetically secured. For Hungary has just announced, through its foreign minister, that it will not vote for the Dutch prime minister. And I imagine that, through diplomatic channels, this had been conveyed to the Allies some time before. It can’t be ruled out that this weighed in Bucharest’s calculations to pursue the bid.
The statement made by the Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, was doubly unequivocal.
- The way Szijjarto phrased it left absolutely no room for doubt in the Rutte question.
- The place he delivered his message: Sfantul Gheorghe, in Romania.
From all points of view, it would be hard to see surprises from Budapest following their firm position.
True, in such a complex and nuanced world of diplomacy and international relations nothing is non-negotiable until the last minute. But it is hard to imagine a carrot and a whip that could change Hungary’s mind about the Dutchman, Rutte. Of course, there may be reasons for Budapest to not explicitly support Iohannis’ candidacy, but for this we need a third candidate to appear in the race who corresponds one hundred percent to the tastes of Hungary (and the others, allies, of course).
What matters at the moment, however, are these concrete elements, of which two stand out:
- Two contenders to succeed Jens Stoltenberg have been announced – Mark Rutte and Klaus Iohannis.
- The Hungarian minister did not explicitly announce his country’s support for Iohannis’ candidacy, but explicitly announced the lack of support for Rutte. And he suggestively said: „We are glad that we finally have a candidate from Central Europe.”
In other words, given the consensus needed to elect the next NATO Secretary General, the Rutte option has just suffered a massive setback, and the Iohannis variant has just gained more stability and has secured a slightly more advanced position to convince and negotiate.
It is therefore high time that domestically, too, the above developments lead to an opportune change of perspective and attitude.
Even if the current electoral context in Romania naturally tends to polarize spirits towards Klaus Iohannis, his candidacy for NATO leadership should not be seen differently than what it essentially represents: an unprecedented opportunity for Romania to increase its international profile, its footprint in the region (in an extraordinary context), to accelerate the professionalization of its diplomatic corps and to increase the accountability of its political environment.
There have been comments in recent weeks that the stakes of Iohannis’ candidacy may be indirect rather than direct. In other words, that the Romanian president would run, in plain sight, for the top civilian position in NATO, but that in reality on the radar, there is the option of him obtaining another position, for Romania (but I would point out that not mandatory for him personally) at a European level.
Of course, this is a fertile and exciting terrain for speculation, but even if this is so, what could be bad, inopportune, or out of place?
No matter how things turn out in the end, everything starts with Iohannis’ candidacy for NATO secretary-general and consequently, a more than welcome broadening of support for him at home and abroad.
Op-Ed: Romania’s president Iohannis is the best choice to lead NATO
