“On average, European countries easily spend up to a quarter of their national income on pensions, health and social security systems, and we need only a small fraction of that money to make defense much stronger,” Rutte told MEPs.
Most EU countries also belong to NATO, and for the last decade the alliance has called on them to spend at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense; 24 of NATO’s 32 members now meet that target.
Rutte didn’t bring good news to politicians hoping for a reprieve.
The final NATO spending target, he told lawmakers, might be around 3.6 or 3.7 percent of GDP unless they do a better job of joint buying of weapons and equipment, as well as innovation.
Rutte insisted that Europe is still tied to the U.S. for its security needs. He thinks it was an “illusion” to think Europe can go it alone on defense.
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In a single line expressed through a reporter, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov has explained the defeat of Syria as a tactical withdrawal in preparation for the “military conflict with NATO, and in the next 10 years
This line appeared in the Kremlin-funded security analysis platform Vzglyad on January 3; there was no mention of Syria. In case the significance was missed, Vzglyad added the editorial line in italics: “In a long confrontation with the West, it is important to skillfully combine the economy and military. Judging by the first results of the activities of the economist Belousov as Minister of Defense, this is exactly what we see.”
A political source in Moscow concurs. “Russia has to fight all of NATO head-on within the next ten years. So if a deal can be made now to earn some time to rearm, then that’s a strategic choice that is going to have to be made.”