Rutte to allies: increase your defense spending or Trump will call you
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that all NATO countries should reach the 2% of GDP figure for defense spending.
He said this at a press conference with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini in Bratislava, reports "EP", Censor.NET informs.
Rutte noted that "22-23 states" of the Alliance already spend the minimum required 2% of GDP on defense, but there are those who have not yet done so.
"I am communicating with them actively and intensively to make sure that they hurry up and reach the 2% target. And I think they should all do it by next summer," Rutte said, referring to the NATO summit in The Hague in June.
The NATO Secretary General added that in case of refusal, the countries may receive a call from US President Donald Trump with stricter requirements.
"And I say to them, if you don't respond to my phone calls, you may get a call from a very nice man in Washington who is perhaps less - well, let's say he has more time constraints on what he wants to achieve," Rutte said.
