NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte named three main priorities that must be resolved before the next summit of the Alliance in June 2025, which will be held in The Hague.
According to him, the absolute priority is to ensure that Russia does not win in Ukraine, which will remain a top priority for all NATO member states. "We need to make sure that Ukraine will win, and Vladimir Putin will not achieve his goal," Rütte emphasized during a press conference at the military base in Adaž together with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevičs.
The second important issue for NATO is increasing defense funding. Rutte drew attention to insufficient funding in Europe, noting that currently, if we do not take into account US expenditures, NATO countries' defense spending is only 2% of GDP, which is insufficient to effectively ensure the Alliance's security.
The third priority, according to the Secretary General, is to strengthen defense production. "At the moment we are not producing enough, and we need to increase production to be ready for any threats," Rutte said, stressing the importance of cooperation with NATO partners such as the European Union, as well as countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including Japan. South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
These three issues - supporting Ukraine, increasing defense spending and increasing defense production - will be the main topics of discussion at the NATO summit in 2025, which, according to Rutte, should be an important step towards strengthening the Alliance's security.
