NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has launched a major reorganisation of the Alliance’s apparatus: two key divisions will be eliminated and dozens of positions at the headquarters in Brussels will be cut, Politico reports, citing NATO sources.
According to the publication, Rutte – who took over as NATO chief in October last year – has set out to optimise the Alliance’s structure and reduce bureaucracy. According to Politico‘s interlocutors, the new head is “conducting NATO’s own DOGE”, referring to similar attempts by Elon Musk to radically reduce the US government apparatus.
Which units are being liquidated
Instead of eight international divisions, NATO Headquarters will have six. In particular, the Public Diplomacy Division (which served as NATO’s press service) and the Executive Management Division (HR Department) will cease to exist.
Their functions will be transferred to other units. The positions of NATO Deputy Secretaries General – the heads of the liquidated divisions – will also be abolished. In particular, the French diplomat Marie-Doha Besanceno, who headed the Public Diplomacy Division, already left her post in March. Her Italian colleague Carlo Borgini, who heads the Executive Management Division, will also lose his post.
Hundreds of employees to be made redundant
According to Politico‘s sources, dozens of positions will be cut as a result of the reform. At the same time, the Alliance is expected to achieve a more effective balance between temporary contracts and permanent positions instead of reducing staff.
Today, NATO Headquarters in Brussels employs around 4,000 staff, of which 1,500 are international staff, under the responsibility of the Secretary General. Many of them work on short-term contracts. According to Politico‘s sources, the new policy is aimed at reducing the number of temporary contracts to increase the stability and efficiency of the Alliance’s apparatus.
Rutte’s goal is a more effective Alliance in the new geopolitical environment
According to analysts, Mark Rutte’s reforms also have a political overtone – to demonstrate that NATO can be a more efficient structure and make better use of its resources. This is important given former US President Donald Trump’s constant threats of America’s possible withdrawal from the Alliance.
“Rutte is reshaping the apparatus to fit his own vision of NATO’s key priorities,” said Alexander Mattelaer, a professor at the University of Brussels, in a commentary for Politico.
