NATO Secretary General visits Spain and Portugal

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Secretary General Mark Rutte travelled to Lisbon and Madrid on Monday (27 January) for discussions on the security situation in Europe, the need to increase defence spending, and the importance of continued support to Ukraine.

In Lisbon, the Secretary General met with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro and other members of the government. In Madrid, Mr. Rutte met with the Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and other officials.

The Secretary General said that to keep NATO strong, the Alliance must continue to adapt and that to guarantee security in the future, it is necessary to ramp up efforts now. He highlighted the need to spend more on defence and welcomed recent increases in Portugal’s and Spain’s defence spending, stressing that the goal of 2% set a decade ago “will not be enough to meet the challenges of tomorrow”.

Speaking in Lisbon, Mr. Rutte said that Russia is challenging the resilience of our countries with acts ranging from assassination attempts to cyber-attacks to sabotage.

He thanked Portugal for its significant contribution to innovation in the maritime domain and said that Portugal’s Maritime Operational Experimentation Centre helps Allies test and exercise with new technologies, including to improve the resilience of energy and communications infrastructure.

“The threats from Russia may seem distant, but let me assure you, it is not. Russian ships and long range bombers menace the Portuguese coast. Portugal's vital undersea infrastructure is squarely in Russia’s sights. And while we deal with the Russian threat, we must also address the challenges coming from the southern neighbourhood, and also the opportunities coming from the southern” he said.

During the visit, the Secretary General also thanked Portugal and Spain for their support to Ukraine and stressed that this is crucial, so that when Ukraine decides to go to the negotiating table, they can do this from a position of strength.