Rutte: NATO countries have increased defense spending by €700 billion, but it's still not enough.

NATO increases defense spending by €700 billion

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reported that due to Russian aggression against Ukraine, NATO allies in Europe and Canada have increased their defense spending by €700 billion.

However, this is not enough to maintain the deterrence and defense system of the Alliance at the required level, the Secretary General stated during a meeting with students at Comenius University in Bratislava.

'In 2014, we agreed on these 'notorious' 2 percent (of defense spending from GDP), and nothing happened. Then Trump became president, everyone woke up and started spending more. Then there was the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and again we started spending more. We increased spending by €700 billion among allies, excluding the U.S., before Trump became president again. But this is not enough. We must take the next big step,' said Mark Rutte.

He noted that decisions on new defense contributions will be made by NATO member countries at the summit in The Hague this summer. The NATO Secretary General emphasized that member countries must be prepared to spend significantly more than 3% of GDP.

'We need to review all our failures, assess what we have in our armies - all these long-range missiles, air defense systems, our logistics, and military mobility - there are so many things for which we cannot only pay with 2 percent. We really need more. I hope we will make decisions about this in The Hague. If we do, we will have a much fairer burden-sharing with the U.S. But I am not concerned about the United States - they will do what they need to do. I am concerned whether we are ready to move forward,' said Mark Rutte.