Secretary General in Munich: Europe needs to step up

NATO MULTIMEDIA ACCOUNT

Download NATO’s broadcast-quality video content free of charge

Log in

No account?

Create an account

Forgot your password?

Reset password

NATO MULTIMEDIA ACCOUNT

Access NATO’s broadcast-quality video content free of charge

Create an account

First name*

Family name*

Email address*

Password*

Repeat password*

Occupation

Nationality

I accept the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Secretary General Mark Rutte attended the Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Friday and Saturday (14-15 February 2025). He stressed the need for a strong NATO, urging European Allies to increase their defence spending and take on more responsibility while calling for industry on both sides of the Atlantic to ramp up defence production.

The Secretary General underlined that any peace for Ukraine must be durable and include security guarantees, so that Putin will never again try to capture one square mile of Ukraine. Mr Rutte urged European leaders to propose concrete ways in which they could help make sure that peace, once agreed, would be lasting.

Meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, the Secretary General welcomed the US commitment to a strong NATO, and underscored the importance of Europeans stepping up to invest more in defence.

During the conference, the Secretary General held a range of bilateral meetings, including with President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Vice President of the United States, JD Vance; US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; US Special Presidential Envoy for Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg; Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Takeshi Iwaya; China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi; New Zealand’s Minister of Defence, Judith Collins, and a US Congressional Delegation led by Senator Lindsay Graham, among others.

The Secretary General also took part in a number of official conference events including a panel discussion led by Wolfgang Ischinger along with US Senators Lindsay Graham and Jeanne Shaheen on the value of NATO today, as well as a roundtable discussion with industry leaders on bolstering defence production.