Mark Rutte formally took over from Jens Stoltenberg as NATO secretary general on Tuesday and vowed to do his best to keep the alliance "rock solid."
Rutte told his predecessor Jens Stoltenberg that it was a "great honor" to follow him as the NATO head and named making sure Ukraine "prevails" in its war with Russia, boosting the alliance's collective defense spending and building up on NATO partnerships with other countries as the main goals of NATO.
In response to a question on the escalation in Lebanon, the new NATO chief stressed the alliance has "no specific role" in that conflict but is following it closely and hopes the hostilities will end soon.
