Description: NATO’s Secretary General, Mark Rutte had demanded from member countries an elevated spending rate on defense and security amid raised global threats to the bloc. He elaborated on the elevated threats to the Alliance and mentioned China, Russia and the raised level of international conflicts. He also emphasized the need to facilitate a closer cooperation between NATO and EU in the development of critical infrastructure as well as military and defense capabilities.
Impact: In his first appearance as NATO Chief, Rutte’s statements envisage the era in which both the EU and NATO are entrenched in hybrid war with adversaries like Russia and China. The US, as NATO’s biggest spender and EU’s security insurer through the Trump administration will demand the raised spending from NATO members. With global conflicts such as the Ukraine – Russia and the Israel – Palestine wars, NATO would be expected to enhance the GDP demand of expenditure from all his member countries, in order to achieve long – term competitiveness on the global security stage.