The NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, stated this Monday that European allies and Canada have achieved "transformational progress" in their defense spending efforts, one year after the Hague summit, where partners committed to allocating 5% of GDP to defense by 2035. According to him, they already allocate "around 4% of their GDP to defense and security."
In a press conference in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, on the eve of the NATO summit that will bring together the Alliance's leaders on July 7 and 8, Rutte emphasized that member states have assumed "the historic commitment" to strengthen the organization and has called on them for "clear, concrete, and credible" plans on how they intend to reach the 5% target, while acknowledging the progress made so far.
"Within a 10-year project, we see that European allies and Canada are already investing around 4% of their GDP in defense and security. This includes significant increases in allies' investments in pure military spending as well as in their defense and security-related investments," indicated the head of NATO.
Rutte specified that, last year, European allies and Canada disbursed "almost 20% more" in pure military spending compared to the previous year, and estimated the projected additional joint investment between 2025 and 2026 at 258 billion dollars. "The trend continues. We will need more forces, more resources, and a much stronger industrial base. After years of underinvestment, we are producing real capabilities," he highlighted.
The NATO Secretary General stressed that European allies and Canada are "on a trajectory" to bring their defense efforts closer to those of the United States, and highlighted that they are also assuming "more leadership" within the Alliance's command and control structure, strengthening their role in conventional defense and deterrence along the entire eastern flank, from the Baltic to the Arctic.
Furthermore, he highlighted the role of European partners in supporting Ukraine, which, in his opinion, constitutes "evidence of a real change in mentality." "A Europe within a stronger NATO. The investment is there. And now we have to ensure that we are translating our economic power into military capabilities," he concluded.
"BILLIONS" FOR ARMAMENTS
In parallel, the also former Prime Minister of the Netherlands has announced that the Alliance will unveil contracts worth "tens of billions" of euros for the purchase of equipment intended to strengthen common deterrence and defense, coinciding with the summit to be held on July 7 and 8 in Ankara.
"We will announce contracts worth tens of billions that will give us the essential equipment we need to deter and defend ourselves," Rutte explained about the NATO Defense Industry Forum that will take place this Tuesday, before the dinner that will bring together the heads of state and government of the 32 allies at the Turkish Presidential Palace.
Rutte has announced that this forum will serve as a showcase to demonstrate how NATO cooperates with the defense industry in order to move "from defense plans to drones" and "from money to missiles and interceptors," with the intention of overcoming the fragmentation of national industries and cutting bureaucracy.
The Secretary General has emphasized that this volume of investment will not only strengthen collective security, but will also favor economic growth and sustain "hundreds of thousands of jobs" on both sides of the Atlantic, thanks to industrial cooperation between the United States and Europe, "from Arkansas to Ankara."