Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has withdrawn his bid to replace outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, allowing Romania to throw its support behind the candidacy of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is backed by all the other 31 members of the alliance.
Iohannis's decision was announced after a meeting of Romania's Supreme Defense Council (CSAT) on June 20 that also decided to supply Ukraine with a Patriot air-defense system that Kyiv has been pleading it allies for.
"During the CSAT meeting, the president of Romania said he had informed NATO allies at the end of last week about his withdrawing his candidacy for the position of NATO secretary-general," the CSAT said in a statement.
Iohannis then "asked the CSAT members about their position on Rutte's candidacy...and they declared they were in favor of Romania's throwing its support behind the Dutch premier's candidacy," the statement added.
On June 18, Hungary and Slovakia announced their support for Rutte, leaving Romania as the only member of the alliance that had yet to endorse the longtime Dutch prime minister for the position.
Iohannis, a former physics teacher who will end his second and last 5-year presidential term in December, announced in the spring that he would run for the NATO position that is to become vacant on October 1.
To back his candidacy, Iohannis had argued in an article in Politico in March that the alliance needed change and an Eastern European perspective amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
"NATO needs a renewal, with a strong, influential representation from this region, which meets the needs of the member states," he said.
Romania also agreed after much deliberation to donate one of its Patriot systems to Ukraine, which faces daily missile and drone strikes on its cities and civilian infrastructure.
"Taking into account the significant deterioration of Ukraine's security situation as a consequence of Russia's massive and constant attacks on its civilians and its infrastructure, especially its energy infrastructure...CSAT members, in close coordination with Romania's allies, have decided to donate Ukraine one Patriot system," the statement said.
Romania has so far received four out of the seven Patriot systems ordered from the United States for a total price of $4 billion.
At a G7 summit last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he "urgently" needed seven Patriot systems to protect Ukrainians and the country's infrastructure from Russia's continued bombardment.
U.S. President Joe Biden responded by saying the United States had received commitments from five countries -- which he did not name -- to provide Patriot and other air-defense systems to Ukraine.
Biden said the United States would supply one system, which will be redeployed from Poland. Germany has also said it too will provide several Patriot systems to Kyiv.