NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has emphasized the alliance’s current strength while advocating for significant enhancements to its capabilities. He highlighted that NATO’s deterrence is effective “for now,” but expressed concerns about future challenges, particularly from Russia and China. Rutte warned that NATO must prepare for potential threats in the coming years, stressing the need for increased defense spending and production to maintain and enhance its military readiness.
NATO is the “most powerful alliance” in global history, Secretary General Mark Rutte has claimed, comparing the US-led bloc to the Roman Empire and Napoleon’s army.
Rutte urged member states to ramp up military spending to make NATO even “more lethal” and better prepared to counter the alleged threat from Russia, which Moscow has long denied and ridiculed.
“NATO is the most powerful defense alliance in world history. It’s even more powerful than the Roman Empire, and more powerful than Napoleon’s empire,” Rutte stated at a press conference ahead of the NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. “But the defense alliance needs maintenance and needs investment.” He laid out priorities to strengthen NATO’s military, insisting they are essential to deter potential future aggression.
We must make NATO a stronger, fairer, and more lethal alliance… We need more resources, forces, and capabilities so that we are prepared to face any threat,” he added. Rutte claimed that Russia could attack NATO within several years and said the bloc would not be prepared to defend itself unless it moves beyond its long-held 2% of GDP defense spending benchmark.
Rutte said he would present member states with a new “defense investment plan” at the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague.
Russia has repeatedly rejected claims that it poses a threat to NATO, calling them “nonsense” and accusing the West of stoking fear to justify more military spending. Moscow has also warned that the West’s rearmament efforts risk escalating into a broader conflict in Europe.
Also read: In Face of Russia, NATO Urges Europe to Build Missile Shield Faster
Russian officials have also drawn their historical comparisons. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the West of trying to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia, just like in the times of Napoleon and Hitler, through its proxy war in Ukraine. He said the only way to avoid a wider conflict is for the West to abandon its militaristic path.
However, it seems NATO is bent on continuing confrontation scenarios with Russia, and Ukraine is more than ready to act as a proxy. If the NATO buildup around Russia’s borders continues and Western powers will keep on pushing Moscow. A more devastating and bigger conflict is bound to arise that will engulf the West as well. However, with their military moves, NATO is surely indicating that it is what they seek.
