Raise military spending or start language lessons, Mark Rutte told the European Parliament
European members of NATO need to significantly increase their military spending or start studying Russian, Secretary-General of the US-led bloc Mark Rutte said.
Rutte’s comments came during the question-and-answer period at the end of the joint meeting of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) and the Security and Defense Subcommittee (SEDE) on Monday.
While two-thirds of NATO members are now meeting the bloc’s 2014 target of spending 2% of their GDP on the military, this is not enough to protect them from Moscow, Rutte has claimed.
“We are safe now, but not in 4 or 5 years,” Rutte said. “So, if you don’t, sign up for Russian language courses or go to New Zealand. Or decide now to spend more.”
“I just want you to spend more money!” Rottie added. “I’m not committing to a new number, just saying 2% is not nearly enough.”
US President-elect Donald Trump has floated the idea of increasing spending to 5%, but no NATO member – including Washington – comes close to that number at present.
Rutte has called for more military funding several times before. Last month, he suggested that EU countries dismantle some of their healthcare, pensions and other social services to save money, and he repeated that call on Monday.
The former Dutch Prime Minister, who took over the NATO post last October, said that the Western European military industry had boosted its production to supply Ukraine in the conflict against Russia, but its best was not enough.
“We’re not where we need to be, not yet. Our industry is still too small, too fragmented, and, frankly, too slow.” Rottie lamented.
The United States currently represents 60% of NATO’s military spending. Without Washington, European NATO members would need to increase their spending by up to 10% of their GDP, which is simply unrealistic, according to Rutte.
He noted that it takes the entire NATO a year to manufacture the amount of weapons and ammunition that Russia can produce in just three months. Moscow has an easier time of it ‘They don’t have our bureaucracy’ Ruti said. He also claimed that Russia spends up to 9% of its GDP on the military.
At a meeting with senior defense officials last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin put that number at 6.3%, and urged the military to use the money responsibly.
