WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, speaking at the Munich Security Conference today, stressed the urgent need for increased defense spending among European members, noting that Russia has moved to a war economy while NATO has not.
“Russia operates on a war economy. We have not,” Rutte said, stressing that NATO allies must reduce bureaucratic hurdles and boost their military capabilities. He said that while the alliance currently requires members to spend at least 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, a more realistic target should be over 3% to meet NATO’s strategic needs.
His remarks were later confirmed in the official X MSC order, highlighting Rutte’s initiative for European countries to take greater financial responsibility for their collective security.
Speaking earlier in Brussels ahead of a meeting with NATO defense ministers, Rutte stressed that any peace agreement in Ukraine must be "durable and sustainable" and that Kiev must be included in any negotiations about its future.
"It is crucial that whatever comes out of these negotiations is durable and sustainable," Rutte told reporters. "And it is equally important that Ukraine is closely involved in everything that concerns Ukraine."
Rutte acknowledged former US President Donald Trump's argument that European countries should bear a greater financial burden for their own defense.
"It is not fair that European NATO countries pay less for collective defense than the United States does," Rutte said, noting that America also faces budgetary challenges.
"The argument cannot be that we are poor here - we are the richest part of the world. The money is there. That cannot be a problem," he added.
Rutte warned that European countries must prepare to make "difficult decisions" when it comes to their military investments. He presented a new NATO process for identifying gaps in defense capabilities, predicting that the alliance's needs will lead to increased spending well beyond the current 2% threshold.
The NATO chief proposed a gradual approach to increasing defense spending, suggesting annual increases of 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points to achieve the new target quickly but in a manageable manner. NATO is expected to set clear guidelines for these increased defense commitments in the coming months.
