The key theme at the NATO June Summit in the Hague will find an agreement to what extent the Allies in Europe will increase their defense spending in relation to their GDP, Mark Rutte, Secretary General of the Alliance, indicated on Saturday. He thus commented during the debate on Transatlantic Security at the Munich Security Conference (MSC), attended by American Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Lindsey Graham, reports special newsletter TASR.
The Allies in the North Atlantic Alliance agreed in 2014 that two percent of their GDP will set aside every year. However, the new US President Donald Trump is now urging the Member States to contribute up to five percent of GDP. Such a goal has not been fulfilled by the United States during the reign of Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, the politico magazine is a closer look.
According to Rutte, US officials are right that Europe has to contribute more to defense. Such action is not the fulfillment of Trump’s wishes, but in the interests of Europe itself, Rutte added.
In an interview with Politico on the margins of the MSC, the head of NATO said that Member States will have to increase defense spending by “significantly more than three percent” GDP. According to him, he will negotiate at the NATO Summer Summit about how much it should be.
Shaheen, who is a member of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, praised the NATO Member States in the debate, which is already deleting three percent GDP for defense. However, the Alliance should agree in this respect what a goal would be ideal for Member States and how quickly it should be fulfilled.
Senator Graham believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin, by his order of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, made more than any NATO member to increase military expenses. “Putin did more for NATO than we do,” the American politician said, saying that the Russian leader “seriously recalculated”.
He warned that if the war in Ukraine fails to end in the correct way, Taiwan would be followed by the mainland of the mainland. According to him, the agreement should not “humiliate” Putin, but to ensure that such aggression will never happen again.
Rutte reiterated that when it comes to Ukraine, it is clear that there is a common interest in being in the best possible positions during peace negotiations. According to him, this means continuing the training of Ukrainian soldiers and continue to provide their attacked country all military assistance.
“The result must be that Ukraine will be such a country that Russia will never think of again. It must be a permanent and sustainable peace. Americans and Europeans absolutely agree in this respect, ”he stressed.
At the same time, Rutte called on European officials not to complain that they may not sit at the meeting table. Instead, he advised them to come up with specific ideas and solutions regarding, for example, possible security guarantees for Ukraine.
