NATO needs 400% increase in missile defense, says chief
LONDON—North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) Secretary General Mark Rutte will use a speech in London on Monday to say the military alliance needs a 400 percent increase in air and missile defense, one of the priorities for a summit of members in the Hague later this month.
Rutte is pushing for members to boost defense spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic products (GDP) and commit a further 1.5 percent to broader security-related spending to meet U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for a 5 percent target. Last month, he said he assumed that target would be agreed at the summit on June 24 to June 25.
Rutte will argue in a speech at London’s Chatham House think tank that for Nato to maintain credible deterrence and defense, it needs “a 400 percent increase in air and missile defense.”
“We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies,” he will say, according to extracts of his speech provided by his office.
“The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defense. The fact is, we must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defense plans in full. The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends.
