At the same time, he confirmed full US devotion to the Alliance, including Article 5.
Mark Rutte, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) on Wednesday before the leaders’ meeting said that there is no alternative to increase defense expenditure due to the persistent threat by Russia. At the same time, he assured that the United States remained firmly devoted to the Alliance, TASR reports, according to AFP and Reuters reports.
“Given the long -term threat by Russia, but also the massive building of the army in China and the fact that North Korea, China and Iran support war efforts in Ukraine, it is really important that we spend more resources.
NATO US devotion
He also stressed that the United States, according to him, is “absolutely devoted” to the North Atlantic Alliance and its key collective defense commitment to the five North Atlantic Treaty.
AFP recalls that US President Donald Trump had several statements that questioned this commitment. “It depends on your definition. There are many definitions of article 5,” Trump said before departure to the summit. “It is quite clear for me that the United States is fully devoted to NATO and fully devoted Article 5,” Rutte responded.
Meaning of Article 5
According to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, each Contracting Party undertakes to consider an armed attack against one or more Member States to be an attack against all. In such a case, the Member States undertake individually or in accordance with the other parties “take steps to be considered necessary, including the use of the armed forces”.
At the summit, Rutte wants to convince the heads of state and governments to more than double the current goal of defense spending from two to five percent of GDP: 3.5 percent should only be available for the army, 1.5 percent for spending in related areas – so -called dual use projects.
