Secretary General Mark Rutte: Mr Trump is right about NATO

(Dan Tri) - NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that US President-elect Donald Trump was right to ask alliance members to increase defense spending.

New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (Photo: Reuters).

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is seeking to build a good relationship with US President-elect Donald Trump to push NATO countries to increase defense spending, exceeding the current target of 2% of GDP.

During his first term in the White House, Mr. Trump criticized European countries for not spending enough on defense and taking advantage of the United States to ensure their own security.

Many NATO countries have been spending far less than their 2% GDP commitment, while Mr Trump has suggested the target should be doubled to 4% of GDP by 2018.

"Mr Trump is right about this. We will have to spend more than 2%. I am very clear about that," Mr Rutte said at the European Community summit in Budapest on November 7.

Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in 2022, several countries have significantly increased their military spending. Countries like Poland and the Baltics are spending up to 4% of GDP on defense.

Back in 2014, only three NATO member states met their commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defense, but that number has now increased as one-third of the alliance, or 23 countries, have met the target.

Momentum towards the bloc's spending target continues to grow as the UK retains its commitment to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence this decade.

During a hearing in the European Parliament on November 6, EU Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told lawmakers that it was time for NATO to get serious about increasing its spending target.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/tong-thu-ky-mark-rutte-ong-trump-dung-khi-noi-ve-nato-20241108134250620.htm