NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned in his speech in the European Parliament on Monday that residents of the EU member states will be forced to learn Russian in a few years if they do not increase defence spending to the level of 10% of GDP.
Speaking in the European Parliament, Rutte pledged:
“We are safe now, but not in 4-5 years. So, if you don’t do it, get out your Russian language courses or go to New Zealand. Or decide now to spend more. I just want you to spend more money! I’ve not committed to a new number, just saying that 2% is not nearly enough.”
The NATO Secretary General urged the EU not to prevent companies from the member states of the North Atlantic Alliance, which are not members of the pan-European association, from investing in the development of the defence industry. According to Rutte, such restrictions are not only a barrier to increasing defence spending, but also complicate production and hinder the introduction of innovations.
Mark Rutte also noted that the alliance’s military capability targets may require countries to spend up to 3.7 per cent of GDP on defence. But this figure can be reduced through innovation and joint procurement, he continued.
Rutte added that US President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, was “many times right” when he demanded higher defence spending within the North Atlantic Alliance.
Earlier, Rutte said that NATO should quintuple its defence spending to 10 per cent of GDP if the military bloc wants to operate outside its borders. In particular, he suggested that the military bloc could operate outside its area of responsibility to create a new alliance system.
