The Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, arrives at the Cotroceni Palace, before the meeting with the Romanian President Nicușor Dan. Bucharest, Romania, November 5, 2025. PHOTO: Vadim Ghirda / AP / Profimedia
The head of NATO, Mark Rutte, stated on Thursday, in a dialogue with students and professors of the University of Bucharest, that his recipe against stress is the passion for what he does and the humor he finds in the relationship with those he works with.
He answered, for almost an hour, the questions of teachers and students, whether it was about how he manages life situations or the challenges of Euro-Atlantic security, writes Agerpres.
“I love what I do, it helps me not to be stressed. The best way to get rid of stress is sleep, my biggest hobby is sleeping. I recommend you get enough sleep, exercise, see friends and have a lot of fun. Me and my NATO colleagues have a lot of fun together and that's very important. Putin will only win when he starts having fun with his people. He hates to see us having a good time, even if we gossip, whether we make strategies, when we laugh together”, added the general secretary of the North Atlantic Alliance, conveying to those present: “love what you do and don't take yourselves too seriously”.
“You are the NATO state with the largest border with Ukraine”
Rutte addressed, at the beginning of his intervention, the support that NATO gives to Ukraine at war.
“We will help Ukraine defend itself today and we will deter any aggression in the future, because frankly speaking, supporting Ukraine is essential for our security. If Russia were to defeat Ukraine, the threat to us would increase exponentially, and you are the allied state with the largest border with Ukraine,” the head of NATO highlighted.
“The NATO system works like this: if someone tries to attack us, we have the logistics in place. We can't give all the details, because we don't want the Russians or anyone else to attack us with more knowledge than they have today. I assure you, that's what we're preparing for, that's what we're training for, to make sure that no one will try to attack us,” added Rutte.
Regarding recent security challenges in allied countries, he stressed the need to focus on the solution and not the cause.
“There is always the discussion of whether the aggressions are intentional or not. But, let's leave that aside. Such aggressions happened in Romania, Poland, in Belgium, a few months ago in Denmark, in Estonia. When it comes to Estonia, Poland, Romania, we know that many aggressions were coordinated from Russia. We don't know that in the case of Denmark or Belgium”, explained the NATO Secretary General.
He highlighted the power of unity: “When I was last night in this huge building (Palace of Parliament), the second largest building in the world, Ceaușescu's palace, and I knew that I had a meeting in the office of the president of the Senate, which is said to have been created for Ceaușescu, the fact that I was there, with the NATO emblems in the room, made me say: “Hey, this is the course of history. He (Ceaușescu – no) did not win, you have won, you are united”. Let's not forget what change our unity can bring”.
The head of NATO was in Romania on a two-day official visit. On Wednesday, he was received by the president Nicușor Dan, he had meetings with the presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Mircea Abrudean and Sorin Grindeanu, and with the prime minister Ilie Bolojan. On Thursday, together with the head of state, Rutte gave a speech at the NATO – Industry Forum.
