NATO-Chef: We must prepare for war to maintain peace Interview with German BILD

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has urged European countries to increase their defense spending and prepare for war in order to be able to maintain peace. 

He made this call while visiting the US army base in the German city of Ramstein, where he gave an interview to the Bild publication.

Rutte called particularly on Berlin to "spend more and produce more" in the military and defense sectors. According to him, this issue will be a topic of debate in many European countries in the coming months.

"Germany must consistently continue on the path it has taken. In Europe and in Ukraine. Germany must spend more and produce more. This will clearly be the debate in many European countries in the coming months. I am telling you very clearly: We must prepare for war. That is the best way to avoid war," the former Dutch prime minister urged.

He also emphasized the need for a fair distribution of responsibilities and payments between the NATO members, in order to avoid "the Americans paying too much and us too little". This statement widely echoes US President Donald Trump's criticism of NATO, accusing other nations of standing idle while the US does the heavy lifting.

Rutte also acknowledged that NATO countries were paying more into the alliance thanks to Trump's initiative during his first term. He did, however, warn that NATO allies would have to pay "much, much more than 2%", which is the current amount of GDP that each member is bound to pay into the alliance.

By Nazrin Sadigova