On Wednesday 4 December, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte promised that he would fight for the Allies to spend more on defence.
Believing that spending 2% of GDP on defence was “simply not enough if, longer term, we want to keep our deterrence at the level it is now”, Mr Rutte explained at the end of the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels that he would “fight” for the Allies to spend more.
“It is absolutely clear, if you want to keep the deterrence at the present level, 2% is not enough", insisted the Secretary General, who was known as a spendthrift when he was Dutch Prime Minister.
“Now it is okay, and we can now defend ourselves, and nobody should try to attack us. But I want it to stay the same in four or five years. So that is the debate we will be having. And then the question will be, what should the percentage be? Is that one percentage or would you look at country specific targets given their capability gaps? That’s a debate we will need to have within the Alliance”, he said.
The Secretary General also felt that the defence industrial base needed to be strengthened. “We are producing not enough at too high prices, and the delivery is too slow”, he explained, adding that the defence industry therefore needed to introduce more shifts and production lines. In his view, transatlantic companies, including those in the EU, need to work closely together to guarantee production at a much higher rate and at an acceptable price.
On the same day, the European Defence Agency unveiled the figures for Member States’ defence spending last year. In 2023, eight Member States devoted 2% or more of their GDP to defence, compared with 5 Member States in 2022. Poland spent 3.3% and Estonia 3%. Ireland, Malta, Luxembourg and Austria spent less than 1%.
See the document: https://aeur.eu/f/en1
Changing the trajectory of the war. The Secretary General also returned to the situation in Ukraine, saying that this winter could be “the most difficult for Ukraine since 2022” as Russia continues its relentless bombardments and advances along the front line.
“We need to do more than just keep Ukraine in the fight. We must provide enough support to change the trajectory of this conflict once and for all”, pleaded Mr Rutte. “Changing the trajectory means that we want to put Ukraine in a position of strength, so that one day, the Ukrainian government can enter into talks with the Russians on how to end this conflict”, and that on the day it wants to do so, “(Vladimir) Putin realises that there is no escape”, he explained.
The Secretary General also warned against the growing alignment of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, pointing out that in exchange for troops and weapons, Russia was providing Pyongyang with support for its missile and nuclear programmes. “These developments could destabilise the Korean peninsula and even threaten the United States. So Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine threatens us all”, he warned.
The Secretary General, who had invited EU High Representative Kaja Kallas to attend the dinner devoted to Ukraine, reiterated that the EU was an “essential partner” of the Alliance. “We cooperate on a range of issues, from our support to Ukraine, to military mobility, and ramping up defence production”, he explained, saying he was looking forward to furthering this cooperation.
Stepping up the fight against hostile Russian action. The Allies also discussed “Russia’s increasingly aggressive posture and its escalating campaign of hostile actions in NATO countries”.
“We have seen a steep increase of these attacks, and we must hold the perpetrators to account”, warned Mr Rutte.
He announced that the ministers had agreed on a series of proactive measures to counter Russia’s activities, including increased intelligence sharing, more exercises, better protection of critical infrastructure, improved cyber defence and tougher measures against Russia’s ‘phantom fleet’ of oil-exporting vessels. According to Mr Rutte, the Alliance is working closely with the EU on these issues. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)