NATO countries need to ramp up their defense spending and “shift to a wartime mindset” because the alliance is not ready to meet future military threats from adversaries like Russia and China, newly installed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday.
In his first public appearance in Brussels since becoming chief of the U.S.-led security alliance, Mr. Rutte noted that NATO members earmarked upwards of 3% of their GDP to defense during the Cold War.
“We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years. Danger is moving toward us at full speed,” Mr. Rutte said during a speech hosted by the Carnegie Europe think tank. “We must not look the other way. We must face it.”
He said Russian arms factories are churning out war equipment around the clock while China’s military-industrial base also is growing. Beijing is heavily investing in munitions, accelerating its space capabilities and expanding its nuclear arsenal.
“Our defense industry here in Europe has been hollowed out by decades of underinvestment and narrow national industrial interests. Our industry is too small, too fragmented, and too slow,” Mr. Rutte said. “According to some sources, China is acquiring high-end weapons systems and equipment five to six times faster than the U.S.”
During his first term in the White House, President Trump demanded more spending from NATO members, threatening to pull the U.S. out of the alliance if they failed to follow through. His ultimatum, along with the shock provided by Russia’s February 2022 invasion of neighboring Ukraine, prompted 23 NATO members to meet or exceed the 2% of GDP benchmark by 2024.
But Mr. Rutte said the security situation in Europe remains grim. He noted that it takes only a single day to drive from Belgium, where NATO headquarters is based, to Ukraine, where Russian bombs are falling and Iranian drones are flying.
The fighting in Ukraine has been responsible for more than 1 million casualties since Russian tanks crossed the border. More than 10,000 people — civilians and soldiers — are killed every week on all sides in Ukraine, the NATO chief said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “is trying to wipe Ukraine off the map,” Mr. Rutte said. “He is trying to fundamentally change the security architecture that has kept Europe safe for decades.”
The Kremlin has territorial ambitions that extend far beyond the borders of Ukraine, the new NATO chief said. Mr. Rutte said the evidence is clear that the Kremlin is preparing for a long-term confrontation both with Kyiv and NATO countries.
He suggested that Moscow is behind cyber attacks launched on both sides of the Atlantic; assassination attempts on British and German soil; explosions at an ammunition warehouse in Czechia; and the exploitation of illegal migrants to increase social and economic pressures into border states such as Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland.
“These attacks are not just isolated incidents. They are the result of a coordinated campaign to destabilize our societies and discourage us from supporting Ukraine,” Mr. Rutte said. “They circumvent our deterrence and bring the front line to our front doors, even into our homes.”
He said all sides need to work together to replenish weapons stockpiles that were allowed to empty at the end of the Cold War. Mr. Rutte said barriers between governments and defense industries need to be torn down because they only increase production costs, stifle innovation, and hamper national security.
He said money shouldn’t be a problem for defense-related industries in the future.
“There’s money on the table and it will only increase,” Mr. Rutte said. “Dare to innovate and take risks. Come up with solutions to the swarms of drones and other new tactics.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.