Joint press conference
with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte
(As delivered)
Thank you so much Prime Minister, dear Mark,
It’s great to be back in Den Haag and it’s always great to meet you.
And we just finished good discussions on a wide range of different issues but let me start by thanking you and the Netherlands for the many contributions you are making to our shared security and to our collective defence.
More than two hundred and fifty Dutch soldiers are part of the NATO battlegroup in Lithuania.
And next year, you will together with Germany and Norway lead our Very High Readiness Joint Task Force.
We also welcome the many contributions you are making to help NATO project stability beyond our borders, not least in Afghanistan where you continue to support our train, advice and assist mission.
Mission in Afghanistan.
Thank you also very much for what you do in Iraq, where Dutch instructors help to train Iraqi forces, help them to stabilize their own country and to fight Daesh.
And in Iraq, as well, your contribution to our training effort is greatly appreciated.
I would also like to commend you for the strong focus that the Netherlands always have had on issues related to how our Alliance is working, on transparency, the
effectiveness and accountability of the Alliance.
And last but not least I would like to mention the strong support of your government to stronger NATO-EU cooperation. And on that we have made a lot of progress over the last years.
Today we discussed how the Alliance shall continue to adapt to a more demanding security environment, with a more assertive Russia, but also with all the turmoil and violence that we see to the South of the Alliance.
And the strength of NATO is that we have been able to change when the world is changing and at our Summit in July we will make decisions that make sure that NATO continues to adapt when the world is changing. That’s about strengthening our collective defence and deterrence, it’s about projecting stability beyond our borders, and it’s about further strengthening [inaudible].
We are facing the biggest security challenges in a generation. We have to keep our nations safe and that means investing in our defence.
I welcome that the Netherlands are investing in high-end capabilities such as F-35 aircraft, as well as new warships and submarines.
At the NATO Summit in 2014, all Allies agreed to stop the cuts, gradually increase and move towards spending 2% of GDP on defence.
The Netherlands is increasing defence spending but it is necessary to do more.
There is a clear expectation that all Allies should reach the 2% target, this is about the credibility of our Alliance, and it is about fair burden sharing between Allies.
As you mentioned we also discussed Syria.
We cannot accept the normalisation of the use of chemical weapons.
We condemn their use.
And we must do everything we can to ensure that the international ban on chemical weapons is upheld, not undermined.
NATO has expressed its support for the action carried out by 3 NATO Allies, the US, the UK and France in response to the use of chemical weapons.
And NATO strongly supports the efforts by the United Nations to achieve a lasting political solution to the conflict in Syria.
So once again, thank you for hosting me. And thank you for your strong personal commitment to the Alliance.
Thank you.
QUESTION: Mr Secretary General, Prime Minister: about the defence spending. Mr Secretary General, what is your appeal to the Netherlands, to Prime Minister Rutte? And did you get the promise – a promise from the – from Prime Minister that – that Netherlands will reach the 2% defence spending within a few years, and when you expect Netherlands to reach 2%?
JENS STOLTENBERG [NATO Secretary General]: I expect all Allies to make good on the promises we all made back in 2014, and that was to stop the cuts, increase defence spending and then move towards spending 2% of GDP on defence within a decade. And this goal is important because when tensions are increasing we have to invest more in our security, and the Netherlands is an important Ally, and therefore it is of particular importance that the Netherlands also delivers on the capabilities that we need from the Netherlands to strengthen our collective defence and our shared security.
We are aware that the economy’s growing in the Netherlands. But that’s a good thing, because when we say that 2% should be allocated to defence spending, then it means then 98% can be allocated to something else. So economic growth is not the problem; that is actually a big advantage, increasing tax revenues and also strengthening the economy and the fiscal balance, which enables the Netherlands and other countries to spend more on defence.
Let me also add that we call for more defence spending not to please the United States. We call for more defence spending because it’s in our own security interest to invest more in defence. Having said that, increased defence spending across Europe is also about burden-sharing. The GDP of the United States is as big as the GDP of European NATO Allies combined. But at the same time, the United States invests around – or is responsible for more than 70% of the total defence spending in the Alliance. So this just underlines that we need a fairer burden-sharing within the Alliance.
MARK RUTTE [Prime Minister of the Netherlands]: Wise words! Thank you. Yeah.
MODERATOR: For the next question, Reuters, Mr Meyer.
QUESTION: Yes, good afternoon. Thank you for your time. On the threat from Russia, Mr Secretary General, do you think that NATO should take more steps to enhance air security in the Baltics? Do you think that United States should deploy troops unilaterally more regularly?
JENS STOLTENBERG [NATO Secretary General]: So what we have seen over the last couple of years is that NATO has increased its military presence in the Baltic region: with air policing, with more maritime presence and also with more land forces. Currently we’re not planning to increase our military presence in the region. But what we are planning is to strengthen our ability to reinforce, if needed. We have already four battle groups in the three Baltic countries and Poland. The Netherlands is part of the battle group in Lithuania. We have air policing and we have more naval presence.
But if there is a need, we need to have ready forces which can deploy very quickly. And that’s also one of the reasons why one of the main issues at the upcoming summit in July will be increased readiness, which also includes military mobility, the ability to move forces across Europe quickly if needed. And there the Netherlands is in a lead position, leading the work we are doing to work together with the European Union to address military mobility: how we can have the infrastructure, the legal framework, all the procedures in place, to be able to quickly reinforce if needed.
MARK RUTTE [Prime Minister of the Netherlands]: This is also a very practical example of where the EU and NATO work together, building on each other’s capabilities and strengths. And we need to get this military mobility thing solved. This has to do with the legal parts; it also has to do with the hard infrastructure; it has to do with the command control structure. So this is something where we are working very hard on together, and I’m very happy that the Netherlands is taking a lead in this.
QUESTION: Yes, thank you. Mr Stoltenberg – I’m here! Did you discuss, or did you ask, the Netherlands for new contributions or extra contributions for NATO missions? And Mr Rutte, what did you answer, if so?
JENS STOLTENBERG [NATO Secretary General]: Well, we discussed different missions and operations, and in general I always ask the Netherlands to do more, because what they contribute is such high quality, and they are so well trained and well equipped when the Netherlands deploy forces. So we like the Netherlands to contribute more in many different operations and missions.
But we in particular discussed Iraq, where we now are in the process of planning a new training mission in Iraq. And I would very much like to see more Dutch trainers in Iraq. Because I strongly believe that one of the best weapons we have in the fight against terrorism is to train local forces. Of course, NATO has to be able to deploy combat troops in combat operations as we have done before. But in the long run it’s better to enable local forces to stabilise their own country and to fight terrorism themselves. That’s the reason why we have ended the combat operation in Afghanistan: now we train the Afghans so they can stabilise their own country. That’s exactly the reason why we also have to do more training in Iraq: to make sure that ISIS doesn’t come back but that the Iraqi forces can make sure that they are able to stabilise Iraq. We need to train them. NATO will launch a training mission there, and I’d very much welcome Dutch trainers as part of that training mission in Iraq.
MARK RUTTE [Prime Minister of the Netherlands]: Well, in answer to your question: first of all, we constantly review our contribution to the various missions, be it within NATO or within UN, like in Mali. And we have set dates when we have to decide on the next steps to be taken. So that is a continuous process. We very much support the idea of NATO getting involved in training in Iraq, for exactly the reasons the Secretary General was just mentioning. What then our contribution potentially could be to such a training mission has to be decided. So that is in the process of being decided. At the same time we are reviewing again our support within the Coalition in Iraq, including in Erbil, and of course what we are doing in Afghanistan.
So this is a continuous process, but politically we will fully support you in the NATO Summit in July - this concept of NATO getting involved in training in Iraq. We do think that this will help Iraq to stabilise the country. Politically there is more stability now in Iraq, and they have been successful to a certain extent in fighting all the threats within the country. And we do believe that a training mission will have a positive impact. What we will then, again, contribute to such a mission has to be decided.
MODERATOR: Last question for Miss … [inaudible] from the Greek national newspaper.
QUESTION: Yeah, I would like to ask: in relation to the evolving threats you mentioned also in the South, what is your position and what worries you most concerning the escalating tensions in the Aegean by Turkey, which have also led to Turkey holding two Greek soldiers there?
JENS STOLTENBERG [NATO Secretary General]: Both Turkey and Greece are two highly-valued Allies. They have been members of the Alliance for many decades, and Turkey and Greece contribute to our missions and operations and to our collective defence in different ways, and we welcome that.
Then there are some well-known differences between the two countries, and I just urge Turkey and Greece to address those differences in the spirit of good neighbourhood, and also to address them in bilateral meetings. And I also welcome the fact that the Prime Minister of Turkey and the Prime Minister of Greece recently spoke and addressed these issues. But I don’t think it will be helpful if NATO starts to go into the specific issues which cause some problems. That is for Greece and Turkey to address. Thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Thank you – have a great afternoon!
MARK RUTTE [Prime Minister of the Netherlands]: Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay.