Defense: NATO Secretary General: I’m worried in the long term

The new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte does not currently see the danger of a Russian attack on the alliance’s territory, but at the same time he is concerned about the future. “If we don’t increase our defense spending, we will have a serious problem in four to five years,” he said in an interview with the German Press Agency. “We don’t have to be afraid at the moment. But in the long term I’m worried.”

The background to Rutte’s assessment is the massive expansion of Russia’s arms production due to the war of aggression against Ukraine. In his opinion, the NATO states are not yet countering this enough. “We need to strengthen the defense industry and expand production. Additional production lines and shifts need to be set up because we do not produce enough military equipment to protect ourselves in the long term,” explained the 57-year-old. “We still have time to prepare and strengthen our deterrence to prevent a war on NATO territory. But we must act now.”

Rutte expects new demands from Trump

Rutte also expects pressure in this direction from future US President Donald Trump, who in his first term in office threatened to withdraw the US from NATO if the allies did not immediately spend two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense. “He will want us to do more and he is right to do so. We have to do more,” said Rutte. Overall, the European allies are currently spending two percent of their GDP on defense. But you will have a problem with deterrence in four to five years if you don’t spend more.

Rutte did not say whether he thinks increasing NATO’s defense spending target to three percent of GDP or even more makes sense. A decision on this should be made by the NATO summit next June. Recently there were reports that Trump could demand spending of five percent from the Europeans. Germany will probably end up with a rate of around 2.1 percent this year.

Clear words on German Ukraine policy

In the discussion about Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s (SPD) ongoing no to the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, Rutte made it clear that he would personally make a different decision and would not impose any restrictions on their use. “In general, we know that such capabilities are very important for Ukraine,” said the former Dutch prime minister. But it is not up to him to decide what allies should deliver.

In principle, however, Rutte firmly defended the Chancellor against criticism. “What Olaf Scholz has done is impressive. Scholz has helped ensure that Germany is second only to the USA in military support to Ukraine, with 28 billion euros, in some calculations even 34 billion. That is a huge sum, far ahead of many other countries, including major economies in Europe,” he said. This is an achievement for which Ukraine can also be grateful to Scholz.

Regarding the sometimes harsh allegations that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj made against Scholz, Rutte said: “I have often told Selenskyj that he should stop criticizing Olaf Scholz because I think that is unfair.” Selenskyj had recently criticized Scholz, among other things, for calling Russian President Vladimir Putin against his will. He repeatedly publicly expressed his lack of understanding of the Chancellor’s no to the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles.

Rutte emphasized that he did not want to interfere in the ongoing German election campaign. “I’m not taking sides because I can work with both Olaf Scholz and Friedrich Merz (CDU),” said the former Dutch head of government. It is important that Germany knows that its own values ​​and collective security are at stake in its Ukraine policy. “If Ukraine were to lose, we would have to spend much, much more on defense to counter the Russian threat,” he added.

Rutte: Conflict in Ukraine will be a problem for the USA

According to his own statements, Rutte argues similarly in his exchanges with Trump, who is believed in Europe to reduce military support for Ukraine – even if this would mean that Russia can present itself as the victor of the war in the end. “My argument to him, and in general, is that the conflict in Ukraine is becoming a problem for the United States,” he said. You can see Russia’s connections to North Korea, Iran and China, and through the cooperation of these four actors, the entire conflict also becomes a threat to the USA.

In Rutte’s opinion, the consequence of this must be to significantly arm Ukraine again before possible negotiations. “We need to ensure that Ukraine, which is currently in a difficult situation, gets into a strong position,” he said. “That is why we urgently need to ensure that we provide additional military support to Ukraine.” Until then, he will not speculate about possible European peacekeepers to secure a ceasefire.