FILE PHOTO: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte attends a joint press conference at the summit of the Baltic Sea NATO countries, at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland January 14, 2025. Lehtikuva/Antti Aimo-Koivisto via REUTERS/File photo
DAVOS (Reuters) - NATO is not involved in decisions taken by member states, such as the United States, over hiring in the armed forces based around diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) criteria, said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at Davos on Thursday.
Earlier this week, the administration of President Donald Trump fired U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Lee Fagan, the first female uniformed leader of an armed forces branch.
Rutte said it was up to individual countries to assess their DEI hiring programmes within their own armed forces.
"This is for the allies to decide. The U.S. can decide this. This is not something NATO is involved in," Rutte said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
"NATO is involved in collective defence, making sure that collectively the 32 can confront any foe, any enemy, any adversary, and make sure that he or she will never try to capture a square kilometer of NATO territory. That's what NATO is involved in, and all the other stuff is up to individual allies," added Rutte.
(Reporting by Leela de Kretser; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
