Rutte

Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who took office as the 14th Secretary General of NATO in October 2024. Before that, he spent nearly 14 years as Prime Minister of the Netherlands — the longest-serving in Dutch history — and led the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy from 2006 to 2023.

As NATO’s top civilian official, Rutte is driving the alliance’s push to scale drone operator training fivefold by 2027, signalling a significant institutional commitment to unmanned systems as a core military capability.