NATO chief urges higher defence budgets to face new threats

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Monday highlighted the urgency of bolstering defence budgets and addressing mounting security challenges.

Citing Russia's alleged aggression against Ukraine and destabilising actions across Europe, Rutte emphasised the need for NATO members to exceed the 2 percent defence spending benchmark during a press briefing with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro after arriving in Lisbon, Portugal's capital.

"Russia is challenging the resilience of our societies with acts ranging from assassination attempts to cyberattacks and sabotage," he said, reminding of a recent disruption to a critical cable connecting Latvia and Sweden in the Baltic Sea.

"We know that the goal of 2 percent, now set a decade ago, will not be enough to meet the challenges of tomorrow," he said, adding, "To keep NATO strong, we must, however, continue to adapt and to guarantee our security in the future; we also need to ramp up our efforts now.

That also means we need to spend more on our defence."

Praising Portugal's contributions, including demining training, involvement in the F-16 coalition, and innovative maritime operations, Rutte warned that Russian threats, including activity off the Portuguese coast, remain a pressing concern.

Montenegro, for his part, said Portugal is open to "further accelerating" its timeline to reach 2 percent of GDP in defence investment, currently set for 2029.

"We are open to advancing our schedule even further in the trajectory of increasing our investment in this area," he said, noting that this change "will depend greatly on what we are able to achieve internally."