(CLO) NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has called on member countries of this military alliance to "prepare for war" and significantly increase defense spending.
In an interview with Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper, he stressed that despite progress made under the push of US President Donald Trump, countries' defense spending is still not enough to deal with current threats.
"Trump was right to ask NATO member states to increase their defense spending during his previous term. Thanks to this initiative, we have invested more," said Mark Rutte.
President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Mark Rutte, then Prime Minister of the Netherlands, in the Oval Office of the White House, July 18, 2019. Photo: WH
Since 2014, European allies and Canada have spent more than $640 billion on defense, he said. More than two-thirds of NATO members now spend more than 2 percent of their GDP on defense, thanks in part to Mr. Trump’s push.
However, Mr Rutte stressed that much more investment was needed: "The allies will decide in the coming months how to measure it specifically, but I can guarantee one thing: it will be much, much higher than 2%."
NATO's secretary general praised Germany's efforts since Russia's conflict with Ukraine, including deploying a permanent brigade in Lithuania and providing more support to Ukraine than any other European country in NATO.
However, he said that given the size of its economy, Germany needs to do more: "Germany has leading arms companies and innovation power, so they need to increase production and defense spending. This is necessary."
Asked why defense spending should be increased, Mr. Rutte replied frankly: "We have to prepare for war. That's the best way to avoid war." He pointed out that Russia currently spends 32.5% of its government budget (equivalent to 6.31% of GDP) on defense, while NATO countries spend only about 2% of GDP.
On the same day, February 2, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also sent a similar message when he was in Brussels before the informal meeting of the European Council on February 3. He said he would urge European countries to increase their sharing of defense and security responsibilities, and called on the EU to maintain military support for Ukraine.
Cao Phong (according to WELT, Bild am Sonntag, Bloomberg)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tong-thu-ky-nato-keu-goi-cac-thanh-vien-chuan-bi-cho-chien-tranh-post332908.html
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