BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday gave new impetus to European countries to boost defense spending, a budget deficit that newly-elected President Donald Trump used to berate U.S. allies during his first term. which seriously damaged trust.
After Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula a decade ago, NATO leaders agreed to end defense cuts that began when the Cold War ended and move to spending 2% of GDP on their military budgets.
Since Russia launched its full-fledged invasion nearly three years ago, leaders have agreed that the 2% target should be the floor, not the ceiling, for defense spending. On average, America’s allies together achieve that figure, but about a third of members individually still do not.
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Trump, who takes office on January 20, threatened not to defend “delinquent” countries. NATO is based on the principle that an attack on any member should be considered an attack on all of them. Trump’s comments undermined confidence that the US could be counted on in a crisis.
“If you want to keep deterrence at the current level, 2% is not enough,” Rutte told reporters after chairing a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. “We can now defend ourselves and no one should try to attack us. But I want this to remain the same in four or five years.”
In July, US President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts endorsed the biggest change in how the military alliance would respond to any attack on its territory by Russia since the Cold War. It was intended to deter Moscow from attacking any of its 32 allies.
According to top-secret new plans, NATO plans to have around 300,000 troops ready to move to the eastern flank within 30 days. The plans outline which allies would respond to an attack anywhere from the Arctic and Baltic Sea region through the Atlantic Ocean and east to the Black Sea.
But senior NATO officials admit that countries may need to spend as much as 3% of GDP to successfully implement the security blueprint. A new spending target will likely be announced next year. Rutte also said NATO could set specific targets for member states to fill gaps in military equipment.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy stressed that “the time to act is now.”
“We live in very dangerous times,” he said, highlighting Russia and its role in conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, in addition to the war against Ukraine. “We urge all allies in the NATO family to take defense spending seriously.”
During his latest visit to Brussels for a NATO meeting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “this is a time for every ally to lean in, not sit back.” The United States is by far the most powerful member state of the organization.
“A stronger NATO means greater ability to deter aggression, more effective allies to meet more complex challenges, and the peace and stability that allows our people to pursue fuller lives,” Blinken said.
Rutte also underlined the importance of expanding Europe’s defense industry, with incentives to push companies to set up more production lines and hire more workers to staff them as Western support for Ukraine drains its weapons stockpiles.
“We are not producing enough at too high prices and the delivery is too slow,” he said. “We can’t have a situation where we’re just paying more for the same thing, and we’re seeing big kickbacks to shareholders.”
Rutte called on allies “to work closely together to ensure that we produce at a much higher rate and acceptable prices.” He noted that “a number of countries are now buying South Korean equipment because our own defense companies are not producing at the pace we need.”
