NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Monday, marking his first visit to Germany as the alliance’s leader, News.Az reports citing Deutsche Welle.
Of particular security concern for the NATO countries at the moment is the recent addition of North Korean soldiers to Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, marking a new escalation of the conflict.
Rutte wants higher German defense spending
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Rutte said German defense spending was still too low, despite recent increases. Germany is now investing 2% of its gross domestic product in defense for the first time in three decades, but all Allies need to invest more, he said.
But Rutte voiced confidence that Germany would continue to take steps in this direction. He thanked Chancellor Scholz in particular for the budget increases in recent years.
“As a former prime minister, I know that it is not always easy for governments to allocate funds for national defense and for aid to Ukraine, but both are crucial for our collective security,” the former prime minister of the Netherlands said.
Meanwhile, Scholz promised to resolutely continue on this path in the coming years, emphasizing that German defense spending has doubled in the past seven years. He also said that he believed NATO’s European pillar must be further strengthened. “
Europe will make considerable investments in this in the coming years,” he said. “It’s about being able to counter any threat to security in Europe.”
The chancellor tried to appear calm in the face of the dispute within his coalition government. He urged his coalition partners to overcome their differences, insisting that the government must do its job and that pragmatism is the right approach.
“We have a basis for this. It is the coalition agreement. It has been negotiated,” Scholz said.