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69-603: The current secretary general is former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte , who took office on 1 October 2024. Article 9 of the North Atlantic Treaty requires NATO members to "establish a Council, on which each of them shall be represented." Accordingly, the North Atlantic Council was formed. Initially the Council consisted of NATO members' foreign ministers and met annually. In May 1950,

138-464: A political scandal ( Nokiagate ) during his fourth term, when it was found that he had been deleting the majority of the SMS text messages on his archaic Nokia mobile phone for years, personally judging which messages were to be archived and which messages were to be deleted in direct violation of the archival law. He explained that this was necessary due to his phone memory filling up too quickly, which

207-719: A blow following the victory of right-wing populist newcomer Forum for Democracy (FvD). During the negotiations for the COVID-19 recovery fund in the European Union in 2020, Rutte was considered the unofficial leader of the Frugal Four , demanding loans instead of grants and more conditions on them. In September of that year, Rutte suggested that the EU could be dissolved and re-formed without Poland and Hungary , as he perceived these countries' governments to be dismantling

276-626: A business management career working for Unilever , Rutte entered national politics in 2002 as a member of Jan Peter Balkenende 's cabinets. Rutte won the 2006 VVD leadership election and led the party to victory in the 2010 general election . After lengthy coalition negotiations , he became prime minister of the Netherlands. He was the first self-described liberal to be appointed prime minister in 92 years. An impasse on budget negotiations led to his government's early collapse in April 2012, but

345-452: A caretaker function and keeping the nation running until the Schoof cabinet was sworn in on 2 July 2024. Due to his ability to come out of political scandals with an untarnished reputation, Rutte has been referred to as Teflon Mark . He has been described as ideologically flexible and pragmatic, willing to accommodate a broad range of political factions in order to address issues. Rutte

414-641: A ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war but supported "humanitarian pauses" to provide aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip . Though the Netherlands provided military aid to Israel, in February 2024 a court in the Netherlands ordered the Dutch government to stop exporting parts for F-35 fighter jets to the country. Due to the resignation of the cabinet general elections were held early, on 22 November 2023 , with

483-722: A ceremonial handover at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels . Despite having previously stated that he wanted to focus on high school teaching after his prime ministership, he announced his candidacy for the position in October of 2023. His bid received public support from the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France in February 2024. Rutte managed to overcome opposition from

552-415: A government, and later that day, Rutte presented his first cabinet to Parliament. The government was confirmed in office by a majority of one, and Rutte was sworn in as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, becoming the first Liberal to serve in the role since Pieter Cort van der Linden in 1918. At 43 years old, he also became the second-youngest prime minister in Dutch history, after Ruud Lubbers . After

621-665: A member of the Corporate Human Resources Group, and in 2002, he became human resource manager for IgloMora Groep, another subsidiary of Unilever. Between 1993 and 1997, Rutte was a member of the national board of the VVD. Rutte served as State Secretary (i.e. Deputy Minister) at the Social Affairs and Employment Ministry from 22 July 2002 to 17 June 2004 in the First and Second Balkenende cabinets and

690-605: A new coalition government. After remaining as outgoing prime minister for the duration of the longest formation process in Dutch history he presented a coalition agreement with D66 , CDA and CU , the same combination as his previous government, on 15 December 2021. In October 2022, Rutte said that alleged war crimes and human rights violations committed during the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in Nagorno-Karabakh should be investigated. Rutte suffered

759-459: A number of other parties, leaving the VVD as the largest party in parliament for the third successive election. After holding coalition discussions, Rutte negotiated a grand coalition with the CDA , D66 and CU ; he presented his third cabinet on 26 October 2017 and was sworn in as prime minister for a third term. The 225 days between the general election and the installation of the third Rutte cabinet

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828-534: A primary school together with Zelensky. During this same tour, they signed the Netherlands-Ukraine bilateral security agreement. Later that month, Rutte threatened Israel with sanctions if the Israeli military launched a large-scale invasion of Rafah , saying the attack would be a "game changer" and have "political consequences". He also met with Chinese president Xi Jinping, where Rutte discussed

897-651: A result of the Suez Crisis, which had strained intra-alliance relations, the council issued a resolution to allow the secretary general "to offer his good offices informally at any time to member governments involved in a dispute and with their consent to initiate or facilitate procedures of inquiry, mediation, conciliation, or arbitration." The NATO countries selected the first secretary general on 4 April 1952. Since that time, twelve different diplomats have served officially as secretary general. Eight countries have been represented, with three secretaries general hailing from

966-591: A secondary school in The Hague. Rutte is known to be a big fan of the writing of Robert Caro , especially his 1974 book about Robert Moses , The Power Broker . He drives a Saab 9-3 estate . Before moving to Brussels in 2024 following his appointment as Secretary General of NATO, he lived in an apartment in Benoordenhout , a neighbourhood of The Hague, for several decades. Defence Planning Committee (NATO) The Defence Planning Committee

1035-479: A victory in the 2011 provincial elections , the VVD secured its status as the lead party within the government. In March 2012, seeking to comply with requirements from the European Union to reduce the nation's deficit, Rutte began talks with his coalition partners on a budget which would cut 16 billion euros of government spending. However, PVV leader Geert Wilders withdrew his party's informal support from

1104-600: A vote of no confidence, becoming the first cabinet to do so since the First Kok cabinet , which lasted from 1994 to 1998. The VVD went into the 2017 general election with a small lead over the PVV in most opinion polls. Rutte was judged to have managed the 2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident well according to similar polling. While the VVD lost 8 seats in the general election, the PvdA lost 29, and these seats were split between

1173-457: Is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th secretary-general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as the prime minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2024, and as the leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 2006 to 2023. Serving a total of almost 14 years, Rutte is the longest-serving prime minister in Dutch history. After originally embarking on

1242-688: Is traditionally an American, and the secretary general has traditionally been a European. However, there is nothing in NATO's charter that would preclude a Canadian or American from becoming the secretary general. Mark Rutte Political career Prime Minister of the Netherlands First Ministry and term Second Ministry and term Third Ministry and term Fourth Ministry and term Affiliations [REDACTED] Mark Rutte ( Dutch: [ˈmɑr(ə)k ˈrʏtə] ; born 14 February 1967)

1311-889: The Defence Planning Committee and the Nuclear Planning Committee , two of NATO's important military organizations. The secretary general also leads the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council , the Mediterranean Cooperation Group , and serves as joint chairman of the Permanent Joint Council and the NATO-Ukraine Commission . In a second role, the secretary general leads the staff of NATO. He directs

1380-685: The Dutch Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum was held, which resulted in a rejection. In July of that same year, Rutte became a topic in international news by interrupting and explicitly contradicting the American president Donald Trump during a meeting with the press at the Oval Office in the White House , which was considered to be "typical Dutch bluntness". At the 2019 provincial elections , Rutte's VVD suffered

1449-694: The Education, Culture and Science Ministry in the Second Balkenende Cabinet from 17 June 2004 to 27 June 2006, replacing Annette Nijs . In office, Rutte showed particular interest in making the Dutch higher education system more competitive internationally, by trying to make it more market oriented (improving the position of students as consumers in the market for education). Rutte resigned from his position in government in June 2006 to return to

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1518-460: The House of Representatives , and he soon became the parliamentary leader of the VVD. After the resignation of Jozias van Aartsen and a loss in the 2006 Dutch municipal election, the VVD held an internal election for a new Lead Candidate, in which Rutte competed against Rita Verdonk and Jelleke Veenendaal . On 31 May 2006, it was announced that Mark Rutte would be the next lijsttrekker of

1587-599: The Iranian strikes against Israel and reiterated the necessity for sanctions against Iran . Rutte stated that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) should be added to the EU's terrorism blacklist . Rutte's government authorized Ukraine to use Dutch-supplied F-16 fighters to strike targets inside Russia in May. Rutte attended the June 2024 Ukraine peace summit , interpreting Putin's proposal for peace talks near

1656-694: The Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in Ukraine with 193 Dutch nationals aboard. In April 2016, Rutte was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim to the High-Level Panel on Water. Co-chaired by Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib and Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto , the joint UN-WBG panel was set up to accelerate

1725-453: The Russian invasion of Ukraine and tried to persuade China , which provided Russia with diplomatic cover and economic support through trade , to exert its influence on Russia. Rutte said that "this is a direct security threat for us, because if Russia will be successful in Ukraine, it will be a threat to the whole of Europe. It will not end with Ukraine." On 14 April 2024, Rutte condemned

1794-406: The rule of law . On 15 January 2021, the third Rutte cabinet collectively resigned after the publication of research centered around the childcare subsidies scandal in the Netherlands . Rutte offered his resignation to King Willem-Alexander , accepting responsibility for the scandal. Following the 2021 Dutch general election , Rutte's VVD party held 34 of 150 seats and was expected to form

1863-405: The Netherlands as well. A Somali man entitled to benefits was stopped by social investigators and checked for fraud on the basis of his external characteristics, after which he refused the investigators access to his home. The Municipal Executive ( College van burgemeester en wethouders ) of Haarlem decided to withdraw his right to social benefits. He disagreed with this and his appeal was upheld by

1932-482: The U.S., Japan, and the Netherlands reached an agreement to limit certain advanced chip exports to China . Accordingly, the Dutch government placed restrictions on chip exports in March 2023 in order to protect national security. This measure affected the Dutch multinational ASML , one of the most important companies in the global microchip supply chain. In January 2024, the Dutch government placed further restrictions on

2001-491: The United Kingdom, four from the Netherlands, two from Belgium, one from Italy, one from Germany, one from Spain, one from Denmark and one from Norway. The position has also been occupied temporarily on three occasions by an acting secretary general between appointments. The NATO secretary general chairs several of the senior decision-making bodies of NATO. In addition to the North Atlantic Council, he chairs

2070-623: The VVD and from national politics in general, after the installation of the next government. While serving as outgoing prime minister, Rutte he condemned the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and expressed his support to Israel and its right to self-defense. He would go on to visit Israel later that same month to express solidarity with the country, meeting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. He rejected calls for

2139-699: The VVD now under the leadership of Dilan Yeşilgöz . In February 2024, Rutte visited Saudi Arabia and spoke with the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman about "broad cooperation". He would travel to Paris on the 26th of February, where Emmanuel Macron was hosting an emergency summit concerning the situation in Ukraine , which had suffered the loss of Avdiivka due to a lack of available ammunition. Czech PM Petr Fiala proposed to purchase 500,000 rounds of artillery ammunition for Volodymyr Zelensky 's forces. This

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2208-486: The VVD's victory in the subsequent election allowed Rutte to return as prime minister to lead his second cabinet between the VVD and the Labour Party (PvdA), which became the first cabinet to complete a full four-year term since 1998. Though the VVD lost seats in the 2017 general election , it remained the largest party. After a record-length formation period, Rutte was appointed to lead his third cabinet between

2277-518: The VVD, Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Democrats 66 (D66) and Christian Union (CU). Though Rutte and his cabinet resigned in response to the Dutch childcare benefits scandal , the VVD would go on to win the 2021 general election . Rutte began his fourth term in 2022 after another record-length formation period. On 7 July 2023, he announced his government's resignation after the cabinet failed to agree on how to handle migration . Rutte IV would continue on as an outgoing cabinet, fulfilling

2346-503: The VVD. He was elected by 51.5% of party members. Rutte's candidacy was backed by the VVD leadership, including the party board, and many prominent politicians such as Frank de Grave , former minister of Defence, Ivo Opstelten , the mayor of Rotterdam and Ed Nijpels , the Queen's Commissioner of Friesland . The Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy , the VVD's youth wing of which Rutte had previously been chair, also backed him. During

2415-491: The administrative judge. The court ruled that "an investigation aimed exclusively at persons of Somali descent is discriminatory" and contrary to the Constitution because this distinction is "discrimination based on race". Rutte rejected the criticism, stating that a change in the law would then be necessary to be able to combat targeted fraud. Rutte later served as State Secretary for Higher Education and Science within

2484-533: The authority of the deputies increased, and the size of the organization grew, NATO established the Temporary Council Committee, chaired by W. Averell Harriman . This group established an official secretariat in Paris to command NATO's bureaucracy. The committee also recommended that "the agencies of NATO needed to be strengthened and co-ordinate", and emphasized the need for someone other than

2553-505: The chairman of the North Atlantic Council to become the senior leader of the alliance. In February 1952, North Atlantic Council accordingly established the position of secretary general to manage all civilian agencies of the organization, control its civilian staff, and serve the North Atlantic Council. After the Lisbon Conference, the NATO states began looking for a person who could fill the role of secretary general. The position

2622-553: The course of his life. Rutte attended the Maerlant Lyceum from 1979 until 1985, specialising in the arts. Although his original ambition was to attend a conservatory and become a concert pianist, he instead went to study history at Leiden University , where he obtained an MA degree in 1992. Rutte combined his studies with a position on the board of the Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy ,

2691-474: The desire for closer coordination on a day-to-day basis led to the appointment of Council deputies, permanently based in London and overseeing the workings of the organization. Deputies were given full decision-making authority within the North Atlantic Council, but their work was supplemented by occasional meetings of the NATO foreign ministers. The chairman of the deputies was given responsibility "for directing

2760-543: The elections he promised "to make the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy a party for everyone and not just of the elite". For the 2006 general election , the VVD campaign with Rutte as leader did not get off to a good start; he received criticism from within his own party. Rutte was said to be overshadowed by his own party members Rita Verdonk and Gerrit Zalm , as well as being unable to penetrate between Wouter Bos and Jan Peter Balkenende , who were generally seen as

2829-511: The end of this summit as a sign of panic. Rutte's fourth term as prime minister came to an end with the swearing in of the Schoof cabinet , which had been formed following the general election. This new cabinet is led by Dick Schoof , the former secretary-general of the Ministry of Justice and Security . Following his departure from national politics, Rutte succeeded Jens Stoltenberg as Secretary General of NATO on 1 October 2024 during

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2898-599: The extent to which members meet those targets and provided other forces and capabilities to the Alliance. Momentarily, just before being dissolved, all member countries were represented on the DPC. However, between 1966 and April 2009, France was not represented on this committee as a consequence of its withdrawal from the Military Command Structure. France announced their return to full participation at

2967-418: The government on 21 April, stating that the proposed budget would hurt economic growth. This led to the early collapse of the government and Rutte submitting his resignation to Queen Beatrix on the afternoon of 23 April. His government had lasted for 558 days, making it one of the shortest Dutch cabinets since World War II. Ahead of the 2012 general election , Rutte was named the VVD's lead candidate for

3036-431: The growing challenges facing NATO led to rapid growth in the institutions of the organisation and in 1951, NATO was reorganized to streamline and centralize its bureaucracy. As part of the organization, the Council deputies were delegated with the authority to represent their governments in all matters, including those related to defense and finance, not just foreign affairs, greatly increasing their power and importance. As

3105-576: The implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) . That month also saw the 2016 Dutch Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement referendum , which resulted in a rejection. In November of 2016 the House of Representatives approved a ban on the Islamic burqa in some public spaces including schools and hospitals by 132 votes against 18, which the VVD supported. Rutte's second cabinet completed its full four-year term without collapsing or losing

3174-549: The international staff of the organization, and the Office of the Secretary General. The secretary general also directs his or her own private office . All of these bodies draw personnel from all members of NATO, so the secretary general must carefully coordinate. For assistance in his responsibilities, the secretary general also has a deputy appointed by the organization. There is no formal process for selecting

3243-526: The last holdouts of Turkey, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania in the months thereafter, with his only opponent, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis , dropping out a week before his official appointment on 26 June 2024. Rutte is single. He is a member of the Dutch Protestant Church . While he was prime minister, Rutte taught social studies on Thursday mornings at the Johan de Witt College,

3312-577: The only possibility appeared to be a centre-right coalition of liberals and Christian Democrats (CDA), with the outside support of the Party for Freedom (PVV), led by Geert Wilders . After securing support for a coalition between the VVD and CDA, Rutte was appointed as formateur on 8 October 2010; Rutte announced his prospective cabinet, including Maxime Verhagen from the CDA as deputy prime minister. On 14 October, Queen Beatrix formally invited Rutte to form

3381-437: The organization and its work," including all of its civilian agencies. The Council deputies met for the first time on July 25, 1950, and selected Charles Spofford , the United States deputy, as their chairman. Several important organisational changes quickly followed the establishment of Council deputies, most notably the establishment of a unified military command under a single supreme allied commander . This unification and

3450-516: The parties failed to reach an agreement and unanimously decided that they could not continue working together within the coalition. Following this, Rutte immediately offered the resignation of his government. The king asked that the prime minister and his goverment "continue to carry out the duties they consider necessary to the interests of the Kingdom in a caretaker capacity". Three days later, Rutte announced his departure both as political leader of

3519-433: The prime candidates to become the next prime minister. On 27 November, it became known that Rita Verdonk, who generally held a more populist view on politics, managed to obtain more votes than Mark Rutte; he obtained 553,200 votes against Verdonk's 620,555. After repeated criticisms by Verdonk on VVD policy, Rutte expelled her from the party's parliamentary faction on 13 September 2007. In the 2010 general election , Rutte

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3588-590: The same level of authority as the North Atlantic Council (NAC) and the Nuclear Planning Group on matters within its competence. When it was dissolved in 2010, its responsibilities were absorbed by the NAC. It provided guidance to NATO's military authorities and oversaw the force planning process. The force planning process identified NATO's military requirements, set planning targets for individual countries to contribute to those requirements, and assessed

3657-419: The secretary general. The members of NATO traditionally reach a consensus on who should serve next. This procedure often takes place through informal diplomatic channels, but it still can become contentious. For example, in 2009, controversy arose over the choice of Anders Fogh Rasmussen as secretary general, due to opposition from Turkey . NATO's chief military officer, the supreme allied commander Europe ,

3726-443: The shipment of some advanced chip-making equipment to China, though on 27 March 2024, Chinese president Xi Jinping told Rutte that "no force can stop the pace of China’s scientific and technological progress". Different stances on immigration policy within his four-party coalition had existed since the coalition government was formed. VVD and CDA supported restrictions on immigration, while D66 and CU opposed them. On 7 July 2023,

3795-471: The structure of the North Atlantic Council was changed slightly. One member of the council was selected annually as the president of the North Atlantic Council (a largely ceremonial role), and the secretary general officially became the deputy president of the council, as well as the chair of its meetings. Ismay served as secretary general until retiring in May, 1957. After Ismay, Paul-Henri Spaak , an international diplomat and former prime minister of Belgium ,

3864-554: The third time. At the election in September, the VVD won an additional 10 seats, remaining the largest party in the House of Representatives; the CDA and PVV saw their number of seats fall significantly. The VVD quickly negotiated a coalition agreement with the Labour Party and Rutte returned as prime minister of the Second Rutte cabinet on 5 November 2012. In 2014, The Hague hosted a Group of Seven special meeting after

3933-456: The youth organisation of the VVD, and served as chair of the organisation from 1988 to 1991. After his studies Rutte entered the business world, working as a manager for Unilever and its food subsidiary Calvé. Until 1997, Rutte was part of the human resource department of Unilever, and played a leading role in several reorganisations. Between 1997 and 2000, Rutte was staff manager of the subsidiary Van den Bergh Nederland. In 2000, Rutte became

4002-585: Was a former senior decision-making body on matters relating to the integrated military structure of NATO . It was dissolved following a major committee review in June 2010 and its responsibilities absorbed by the North Atlantic Council . and the Defence Policy and Planning Committee (DPPC) The Defence Planning Committee (DPC) was the ultimate authority on all questions related to the NATO Military Command Structure . It

4071-539: Was a sister of his first wife, Petronella Hermanna Dilling (17 March 1910 – 20 July 1945), who died while they were interned together in Tjideng , a prisoner-of-war camp in Batavia ( Jakarta ), during World War II . Rutte has seven siblings as a result of his father's two marriages. One of his elder brothers died from AIDS in the 1980s. Rutte later described the deaths of his brother and his father as events that changed

4140-412: Was born in The Hague , in the province of South Holland , to a Dutch Reformed family. He is the youngest child of Izaäk Rutte (5 October 1909 – 22 April 1988), a merchant, and his second wife Hermina Cornelia Dilling (13 November 1923 – 13 May 2020), a secretary. Izaäk Rutte worked for a trading company ; first as an importer in the Dutch East Indies ; he later ran a car dealership. His second wife

4209-408: Was first offered to Oliver Franks , the British ambassador to the United States, but he declined. Then, on March 12, 1952, the North Atlantic Council selected Hastings Ismay , a general from the Second World War , and secretary of state for commonwealth relations in the British cabinet as secretary general. Unlike later secretaries general who served as chairman of the North Atlantic Council, Ismay

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4278-432: Was formed following a North Atlantic Council Ministerial meeting in Ottawa in May 1963. The DPC met for the first time on October 10, 1963 to prepare a Defence review. The DPC provided guidance to NATO's military authorities and oversaw the force planning process. Following the withdrawal of France from the integrated military command, the DPC was delegated greater mandate over the integrated military command, and gained

4347-421: Was made the vice chairman of the council, with Spofford continuing to serve as chairman. Ismay was selected because of his high rank in the war, and his role "at the side of Churchill ... in the highest Allied Councils." As both a soldier and a diplomat, he was considered uniquely qualified for the position, and enjoyed the full support of all the NATO states. Several months later, after Spofford retired from NATO,

4416-434: Was not considered a plausible excuse by other ministers. The scandal also damaged his campaign promises and the coalition accords, which stated that the cabinet wished to restore peoples faith in politics, create a new governance culture and "improve the information provided to the House". The latter of these concerned measures including a modernisation of the archival law and faster information availability. In January 2023,

4485-426: Was once again the lead candidate for the VVD. It won 31 seats and, for the first time ever, became the largest party in the House of Representatives. The lengthy 2010 cabinet formation followed, with several personalities succeeding each other, being appointed by Queen Beatrix in order to find out what coalition could be formed. Efforts to form a broad spectrum coalition between the VVD, CDA and PvdA failed. Instead,

4554-502: Was responsible for fields including bijstand ( municipal welfare ) and arbeidsomstandigheden ( Occupational safety and health ). After the 2003 elections Rutte was briefly also a member of the House of Representatives , from 30 January to 27 May 2003. During his time as State Secretary in 2003, Rutte advised municipalities to check Somali residents for social assistance fraud, after a number of Somalis who were working in England were found to be receiving social assistance benefits in

4623-403: Was selected as the second secretary general. Unlike Ismay, Spaak had no military experience, so his appointment represented a "deemphasis of the strictly military side of the Atlantic Alliance." When confirming Spaak's appointment in December 1956 during a session of the NATO foreign ministers, the North Atlantic Council also expanded the role of the secretary general in the organization. Largely as

4692-429: Was the longest such period in Dutch history. The coalition agreement contained a plan to abolish the 15% dividend tax (providing the state €1.4 billion per year), which proved highly unpopular as it had not been mentioned in any of the coalition party's programs, and it later appeared that major Dutch companies like Shell and Unilever had secretly been lobbying for the inclusion of this measure. On 21 March 2018,

4761-438: Was the second time in one month the Czech government had aired the matter. The French had previously vetoed the idea to purchase the ammunition from foreign sources. On behalf of his government, Rutte announced that they would provide €100 million for this purpose. On 1 March Rutte increased the commitment to €250 million for Fiala's venture, as he went to Kharkiv to tour an underground metro station that had been repurposed into

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