NATO Foreign Ministers meet to prepare the Summit in The Hague
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On Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 May, NATO Foreign Ministers met in Antalya, Türkiye to discuss strengthening Allied deterrence and defence, and to move forward preparations for the Summit in The Hague in June.
The Secretary General made clear that determining a new baseline spending figure was to be the core deliverable for the Summit, emphasising that the existing target of 2% “is not nearly enough.”
“We will need greater investment in our core military requirements as well as additional broader defence-related investments, including infrastructure and resilience” the Secretary General said, stressing that this made both economic and strategic sense. “We have to make sure that we spend enough money all over NATO to keep ourselves safe” he continued, insisting the changes would be crucial to meeting NATO's new capability targets and deterring aggression.
Mr Rutte praised NATO members for demonstrating their growing commitment to fair burden-sharing, affirming “we are now on the right track”. “Most Allies are now set to reach the initial aim of spending 2% of GDP on defence this year and many have already announced plans to go much further” he added.
The Secretary General also reaffirmed NATO’s long-term support for Ukraine, highlighting efforts to bring the war to a just and lasting end as a shared priority for all Allies. “With or without a settlement, it is clear that our support to Ukraine will continue to be important to ensure a lasting peace” he concluded.