EBN- NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has called on European Parliament members to increase defence spending, even if it means cutting spending on social support.
Rutte added that spending 2% of GDP on defense spending is “totally insufficient” for NATO countries, adding: “As parliamentarians, you know that security cannot be free, and you have influence and can play a decisive role in the debate on the need to urgently increase military spending.”
According to the NATO Secretary General, in order to increase military spending, it is necessary not to raise taxes, but to reduce spending on social support in European countries.
Rutte explained that in general, higher spending on defense means less spending on other priorities, as on average, European countries spend a quarter of their national income on pensions, health and social benefits, stressing that “NATO needs this money to make defense stronger, I am counting on you.”
It is noteworthy that the incoming US President, Donald Trump, has indicated on many occasions that he intends to ask NATO member states to double their defense spending, indicating that he proposes spending 5% of those countries’ GDP in order to develop the alliance’s capabilities.
He has also repeatedly threatened to withdraw his country from the military bloc if the member states do not meet their financial obligations to the alliance.
