Rutte: NATO Must Do Much More Much Faster for Its Own European Defense

In a speech to the European Parliament, the former Dutch prime minister emphasized that the military alliance "is not at war, but there is also no peace."

Rutte said he is "very concerned about the security situation” and reiterated that the EU and EU countries must quickly strengthen their defense industries. 

He said that member states need to increase their annual defense budgets ‘considerably above the current two percent.’ He did not specify a new percentage but said ‘that we will be fine for the next five years, but after that the gap with Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran will become too large.'

Rutte criticized—in polite but unmistakable terms—that in European politics it takes far too long for urgently needed decisions to be made. The joint development and production of new weapons have been declared necessary for years, but hardly anything happens. Rutte described the European defense industry and arms production as currently "too small, too fragmented, and too slow." 

The NATO chief called on the Defense Committee of the European Parliament not to create barriers to the production or purchase of weapons systems if they come from companies in NATO countries that are not EU members (read: the United States, Canada, Turkey, and Great Britain). 

The European Commission reserved one and a half billion euros in subsidies last year for countries that place defense orders with companies in EU countries. They still need to agree on ‘the fair distribution’ of that money among EU countries with defense industries.

Not coincidentally (?), Rutte first mentioned examples such as the construction of new naval ships and submarines (read: Dutch shipbuilding) and radar and anti-missile systems (read: Twente-based Thales). He also pointed to armored vehicles from the German Rheinmetall. 

Rutte said he supports the plan, the European Defense Industry program, but also urged caution. He emphasized that the future of European security "depends on the outcome of the war in Ukraine." He urged European NATO allies to increase their military support to Kiev.