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Rutte, who has been campaigning for the job since November, is the only name put forward by the alliance's 31 member governments, officials said.
Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has secured the support of two-thirds of NATO countries to lead the military alliance later this year, two senior officials told Politico on Wednesday.
" After very intensive rounds of discussions among allies, we are now at the point where over 20 NATO allies are prepared to support Prime Minister Rutte as the next secretary general ," said a NATO official who was contacted. provided anonymity to discuss sensitive internal discussions.
Rutte, who has been campaigning for the job since November, is the only name put forward by the alliance's 31 member governments, officials said.
According to NATO rules, the secretary general must be appointed "by consensus", meaning Rutte still needs to get the support of all the remaining countries.
The official said that the discussions "are not final", but added: " There is a growing momentum behind his candidacy" .
Pressure is mounting on NATO members to endorse Rutte ahead of the leaders' summit in Washington in July. He will replace Jens Stoltenberg, who has led NATO since 2014.
US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said last week that allies should aim to " finish the selection process probably in the first quarter of this calendar year ".
Another senior NATO official confirmed the number of countries still to back Rutte, saying around 10 were still holding back from a yes vote.
"We will continue to listen to their questions and concerns," the first official said. " And we encourage ... the Dutch mission to NATO to answer these questions ."
Countries are holding back their support for various reasons.
Turkey has demanded that Rutte not favor EU countries in the alliance, according to Bloomberg. Hungary, meanwhile, has had long-standing disagreements with Rutte over his harsh criticism of Hungary's democratic encroachment.
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