Ukraine cannot expect an invitation from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The election of Mark Rutte, who previously made extremely critical political statements towards Hungary and the Hungarian government, as NATO Secretary General does not affect Hungary's exclusion from the defense alliance's mission in Ukraine. Among others, Bálint Somkuti, a researcher at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) geopolitical workshop, spoke about this.
"The NATO Secretary General is not an independent factor, but the face and voice of NATO to civilians. As a result, in connection with the election of Mark Rutte, it is irrelevant what kind of politics he previously represented, because he will only have room for maneuver in the aspect of how he presents the affairs of the military alliance to the public," said Bálint Somkuti, a researcher at the MCC's geopolitical workshop, in response to a question from hirado.hu.
The expert pointed out that NATO is a military-political alliance, in which the actual military tasks are always coordinated by an American general, while the political field is managed by Atlanticist politicians.
As he said, the defense alliance functions as an extended arm of the United States.
Regarding whether the election of the new Secretary General could affect the previous agreement between NATO and the Hungarian government, Bálint Somkuti said: it cannot be overwritten.
The Hungarian government's stipulation was that they would support the appointment of Mark Rutte to the post of NATO Secretary General if the alliance declares that it accepts Hungary's exclusion from military operations in Ukraine outside of NATO territory.
The MCC expert also reminded that this is not a unique case, since in 2003, for example, Germany and France insisted on staying out of the Iraq war.
The researcher also said that at the next NATO summit in Washington in July, no significant changes can be expected in the alliance's Ukraine policy, which has been presented so far.
He pointed out that both the United States and Germany made it clear that Ukraine cannot expect to be invited to the 75th anniversary of the alliance either. At the same time, he reminded that no one expected surprises from the 2008 summit in Bucharest, yet Georgia and Ukraine were invited.
However, regarding the defense alliance's mission in Ukraine, he warned that although NATO's current intention is to consolidate and coordinate the arms shipments sent to Ukraine, this process involves the risk of a more serious involvement of the alliance.
"The same thing happened in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan," he pointed out.
Cover photo: Bálint Somkuti
Source: Facebook/Dr. Bálint Somkuti
