In a dramatic speech delivered this Thursday (11) in Berlin, the NATO Secretary General said it was necessary to prepare for a conflict “on the scale of the wars that our grandparents and great-grandparents faced” against Russia. “We are the next target,” said Mark Rutte.
The Dutchman has been known, since he became prime minister of his country, for his combative policy towards Vladimir Putin. Speaking alongside German Minister Johann Wadephul (Foreign Affairs) at a security conference in the capital Munich, he warned against what he called complacency among European nations.
“I fear that many are being silently complacent. Many do not sense the urgency and many believe that time is on our side. This is not the case. The time to act is now,” he said.
He defended increased defense spending by the alliance’s 32 members, including 30 Europeans, plus the United States and Canada. Countries like Germany and Poland are already experiencing major expansionism in the sector.
“The conflict is upon us. Russia has brought the war to Europe and we must be prepared,” he said, adding that a clash with Moscow could have the scale of the First and Second World Wars.
Fought from 1914 to 1918 and 1939 to 1945, the conflicts began and focused in Europe, devastating the continent. In reality, a Third World War would be even worse, given that both sides have nuclear weapons. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which took place on February 24, 2022, constitutes the largest war on European soil since then.
“If you like the German language and don’t want to speak Russian, it’s crucial (to be ready). Otherwise, this guy won’t end up in Ukraine,” Rutte said of Putin. “I stopped trying to understand what was going on in his head a long time ago and just looked at the facts.”
Rutte sought to temper recent statements by Donald Trump, the US president he has tried to please this year, that Europe had weak leaders. For him, the United States needs NATO as much as the alliance needs its main member, the club’s founder in 1949.
He avoided, as usual, directly criticizing the American. “I think we can be on the same page about Ukraine,” he said of Trump’s peace initiative, which so far appears to present a proposal more favorable to Moscow than to kyiv for, if it happens, resolving the conflict.
This news is being updated
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