In order to meet upcoming difficulties, Mark Rutte has urged member countries to boost their NATO defense budget above 2%.
On Monday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte emphasized how urgent it is to increase defense spending and deal with the growing security threats.
During a press briefing with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro following his arrival in Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, Rutte emphasized the need for NATO members to surpass the 2 percent defense spending benchmark, citing Russia’s alleged aggression against Ukraine and destabilizing actions throughout Europe.
In reference to the recent destruction of a vital cable that connects Latvia and Sweden in the Baltic Sea, he stated, “Russia is challenging the resilience of our societies with acts ranging from assassination attempts to cyberattacks and sabotage.”
He added, “We must continue to adapt and to guarantee our security in the future; we also need to ramp up our efforts now.” “We know that the goal of 2 percent, now set a decade ago, will not be enough to meet the challenges of tomorrow,” he said.
This implies that we must increase our defense budget.
Rutte commended Portugal’s demining training, participation in the F-16 alliance, and creative marine operations, but cautioned that Russian threats, notably those off the Portuguese coast, continue to be a serious concern.
For his part, Montenegro stated that Portugal is amenable to “further accelerating” its goal of investing 2% of GDP in defense by 2029.
“We are open to advancing our schedule even further in the trajectory of increasing our investment in this area,” he stated, emphasizing that any shift “will depend greatly on what we are able to achieve internally.”
