Today's Edition
MOHAMMAD GHAZAL (BRUSSELS)
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday that a wave of new defence spending pledges by European allies marks the largest surge since the end of the Cold War, as foreign ministers gather in Brussels for two days of talks on security, Ukraine, and partnerships across the Indo-Pacific and southern neighbourhood.
Defence investment and industrial capacity will be central to the discussions, with ministers expected to assess national plans ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague this June. Rutte said the scale of current investment is “impressive, and it is needed,” warning that NATO’s ability to defend itself five years from now would have been in doubt without such increases.
He added that recent commitments by countries like Finland - which moved to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2029 - reflect a broader trend across the alliance.
“Look what Germany is doing, opening up half a trillion extra in defence spending. The Europeans coming up with 800 billion extra… also the announcements by Denmark, by Sweden, by the Czech Republic, by so many others,” the NATO chief said during a press briefing.
“Many countries who are not yet at 2% are more and more getting to a place where they want to commit,” Rutte added. “But the last couple of months, the numbers coming in, it's really staggering.”
Turning to broader regional threats, he said the alliance was strengthening its engagement with southern partners and maintaining its advisory presence in the region.
In response to Aletihad’s question on recent Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and concerns about the resurgence of Da’esh, Rutte confirmed that NATO was closely tracking rising instability in the Middle East and North Africa. He pointed to recent high-level consultations with countries such as Egypt, Algeria and Mauritania, saying there was a “clear interest” in tracking threats across the broader southern neighbourhood.
The NATO chief also said during the briefing that, while NATO has no direct military presence in the Red Sea, it has been working on deepening ties with regional partners to strengthen resilience.
“We are active in Iraq, helping build up the armed forces, justice institutions and internal security through NATO Mission Iraq,” he added. “And of course, we work together in the Anti-Da’esh Coalition.”
A NATO official speaking at a separate press briefing earlier this week said the alliance was reviewing plans to open a liaison office in Jordan and scale up coordination with platforms such as the NATO-ICI Regional Centre in Kuwait and the Hub for the South in Naples. The expanded mission in Iraq, set to be approved during this week’s meeting, would see NATO advisers support not just defence institutions but also Iraq’s Federal Police Command and Ministry of Interior.
Beyond the southern track, Rutte said talks would also centre on maintaining support for Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas are set to attend a session of the NATO-Ukraine Council on Thursday, where ministers are expected to assess military aid and operational needs.
“There will be a common thread, which is Ukraine - how to keep Ukraine in the fight, how to make sure we keep on delivering what is necessary,” he said.
Rutte also stressed the urgency of scaling up weapons production across the alliance. He said NATO was looking at ways to deepen coordination with partners from the Indo-Pacific - Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand - who will take part in discussions this week on boosting output across shared supply chains.
