Boosting NATO's defence capabilities means going beyond 3% target, says Rutte

The 32 NATO allies will likely decide to increase the defence spending benchmark from the current 2% of GDP during a summit in The Hague in June.

Transcript

00:00Spending 2 percent GDP for defense is not enough, according to NATO's Secretary-General

00:12Mark Rutte, who says that alliance members must put more on the table.

00:16But Rutte, speaking at the European Parliament on Monday, avoided talking about the 5 percent

00:23target that US President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly called for. Instead, he said

00:28that improving the common European procurement and the existing infrastructure could help

00:33set NATO's future defense spending at around 3.7 percent.

00:38Spending more on defense means spending less on other priorities. But it can make a big

00:42difference for our future security. On average, European countries easily spend up to a quarter

00:50of their national income on pensions, health and social security assistance. And we need

00:56only a small fraction of that money to make defense much stronger. So I count on you

01:03to make sure we all invest more in defense. It is an investment in our security and the

01:08security of our children and grandchildren.

01:11Currently, 23 NATO allies meet the 2 percent guideline, led by Poland at over 4 percent.

01:17However, countries like Spain and Italy lag behind, making Trump's 5 percent target unrealistic.

01:24Germany's Olaf Scholz called it too costly.

01:28The defense spending target will have to be increased, most likely as a deliverable for

01:32NATO's Hague summit in June. Of course, nobody knows the size of the percentage, so to say.

01:39It might be 3 percent, it might be 3.5. And I think overall it will be a mixed picture

01:44with some allies indeed, perhaps even meeting 5 percent, particularly on the front line

01:50of Russia's war against Ukraine. And perhaps at this meeting, 3.5. But overall, it's a

01:56certainty, almost a certainty that the defense spending target will rise.

02:01The EU Commission estimates that Europe's defense industry needs an additional 500 billion

02:07euros over the next decade to remain competitive and meet current demand.