"Europe must urgently wake up from its slumber and spend much more on its defense, given the Russian threat."
This is the latest call from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, admitting that the union is unprepared in the face of Moscow's might.
"We are not ready for what will come four or five years from now," the NATO chief said, adding that "it is time to move to a wartime mentality and increase our defense production and defense spending" .
In his keynote speech, Rutte called for public support and a sense of sacrifice to "prevent the next major war on NATO soil" .
This official appeal by the head of the North Atlantic Alliance comes at a time when Ukrainian forces are retreating to the battlefield in the face of the larger and better equipped Russian army.
"The war in Ukraine is causing more than 10,000 deaths and injuries on both sides every week," Rutte underlined. "The danger is approaching us at high speed," he warned, referring to the Russian threat on the European continent.
"What is happening in Ukraine can happen here. Although there is no immediate military threat against NATO, this does not prevent Russia from preparing for a long-term confrontation with Ukraine and with us, the 32 NATO countries." , insisted the former Dutch prime minister.
He emphasized that "the Russian economy is in a state of war", while in Europe, states are reluctant to spend more to increase their defense capabilities.
"And in addition to Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are working hard to weaken North America and Europe. We must be clear about China's ambitions when it significantly increases its forces, including its nuclear weapons, without limits and with ambiguity," the NATO secretary general stressed.
In a world where "the security situation is the worst I have ever experienced in my life, we are not where we should be," Rutte said.
"Europe's defense industry is too small, too slow and too fragmented," he explained, calling on governments, industry and the public to take a leap of faith.
The truth is that NATO countries spend "much less" on defense than during the Cold War, when they devoted more than 3% of their gross domestic product to defense.
In 2023, the allies decided to increase their military spending to 2% of GDP, but only 23 of them have reached this limit. "I can tell you that we will need much more than 2%," Rutte emphasized.
Several NATO countries are talking about the need to increase this limit to 3%, but they remain divided and a decision has not yet been made.
Each additional unit of GDP represents around 200 billion more for EU countries, 23 of which are also NATO members, according to the new European Defense Commissioner, Andreas Koubilius.
"This effort comes at a cost, which requires sacrifice. Today I am appealing for your support. I know that spending more on defense means spending less on other priorities, but it is a small fraction of social spending that should be used to achieve this. To protect our freedom your politicians must listen to you. Tell them you are ready to make sacrifices today so we can stay safe tomorrow. Tell them they need to spend more on defense so we can continue to live in peace. If we don't collectively spend more now to prevent war, we will pay a much, much, much higher price later by making war," the NATO Secretary General concluded. (A2 Televizion)
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