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By Hugh Cameron
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Mark Rutte, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General, says European states must divert spending from social programs toward defense to counter the growing threat posed by Russia.
What's New?
"It is time to shift to a wartime mindset, and turbo-charge our defense production and defense spending," the Dutch politician said on Thursday, in one of his first major addresses since becoming Secretary General in October.
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Rutte warned that the European defense industry has been "hollowed out by decades of underinvestment," while "Russian arms factories are churning out war equipment around the clock."
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He said ensuring the safety of Europe would require every member nation allocating a greater portion of their GDP toward defense—but acknowledged that doing so would require reducing investments in other state projects.
"I know spending more on defence means spending less on other priorities. But it is only a little less," Rutte said. "On average, European countries easily spend up to a quarter of their national income on pensions, health and social security systems.
"We need a small fraction of that money to make our defences much stronger, and to preserve our way of life," he added.
Newsweek has contacted NATO's offices for further comment on Rutte's suggestions.
Why It Matters
Rutte's warning comes in the midst of a particularly precarious security situation for NATO and its global allies, which he called, "undoubtedly the worst in my lifetime."
"Russia, China, but also North Korea and Iran, are hard at work to try to weaken North America and Europe," Rutte said. "To chip away at our freedom. They want to reshape the global order. Not to create a fairer one, but to secure their own spheres of influence."
The Secretary General's push for greater military expenditure from the Alliance's European members also comes only five weeks ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump.
The president-elect has frequently criticized the alliance, questioning its ongoing relevance and condemning the substantial financial contributions made to it by the U.S.
Since Trump's victory in the 2024 election, many have anticipated that his administration scale back the support the U.S. provides to Ukraine, which is currently the country's largest source of military aid.
What To Know
In 2014, NATO heads of state and government agreed to commit at least 2 percent of GDP to defense spending, motivated by the Russian annexation of Crimea and instability in the Middle East.
Since that time, NATO says that its European members and Canada have "steadily increased their collective investment in defence – from 1.43% of their combined GDP in 2014, to 2.02% in 2024."
Russia, meanwhile, intends to up its national defense spending to 6.3 percent of GDP in 2025, according to Reuters, citing draft documents of the Russian 2025-2027 budget.
"Russia's defence industry is producing huge numbers of tanks, armored vehicles, and ammunition, Rutte said on Thursday, adding that its military expenditure points to the country anticipating a "long-term confrontation" with Ukraine and NATO.
Since becoming secretary general, Rutte has frequently called for member states to increase their defense spending to mitigate the risk of an empowered Russia.
"I can tell you, we are going to need a lot more than 2 percent," Rutte said on Thursday, without specifying the exact level of increase he was calling for.
What People Are Saying
Florian Philippot, French politician and founder of the Eurosceptic Patriots Party, on X: "France must freely define its wars, its priorities and its diplomacy! France must invest in its army but freely, with its national defense industry, without being forced to fight wars that are not ours! Let's get out of NATO!"
David Stockman, former Republican representative and director of the Office of Management and Budget under Ronald Reagan, via X: "Let's see, NATO has a GDP of $50 trillion and combined defense spending of $1.5 trillion per year. By contrast, Russia's GDP is $2 trillion and it's normal defense budget was barely $50 billion. So what in the world are you smoking."
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