NATO chief urges increased defence spending as Trump presidency looms
Al Jazeera
Mark Rutte says to maintain current level of deterrence, 2 percent of GDP spending is not sufficient.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has urged members of the alliance to ramp up defence spending as countries brace for renewed pressure from United States President-elect Donald Trump.
After Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula a decade ago, NATO leaders agreed to halt the defence cuts that began when the Cold War ended and move towards spending 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on their military budgets.
Rutte told reporters on Wednesday after chairing a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels that to maintain the current level of deterrence, “2 percent is not enough.”
“We can now defend ourselves, and nobody should try to attack us. But I want that to stay the same in four or five years,” he said.
Countries across the transatlantic military alliance have increased defence spending substantially in recent years, particularly after Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
