NATO wants to strengthen the Alliance’s military presence in the Baltic region

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte appealed to MEPs in the European Parliament on Monday to support increased defence spending. ‘It will also be necessary to strengthen NATO’s military presence in the Baltic region,’ he declared during a debate with parliamentarians.

Rutte attended a meeting of the joint foreign affairs committee and the subcommittee on security and defence in the EP on Monday. In his speech, he expressed his concern about the current security situation in Europe and the world. He pointed out that although Europe is not at war, there can be no talk of full peace.

Among the threats and challenges facing Europe and the world, he cited Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the actions of Kremlin allies including China, Iran and North Korea, as well as terrorism, nuclear proliferation, disinformation and climate change.

He also highlighted acts of diversion that the West is facing. As an example, he cited the destruction of submarine cables linking Finland and Estonia and telecommunications cables between Lithuania and Sweden. This shows, he noted, that defence and resilience must be strengthened.

– We need to be resilient to such hostile actions, to such incidents of diversion, and we must – of course – make far-reaching efforts so that incidents of diversion do not go unpunished. It is also about making our infrastructure more resilient. NATO’s military presence in the Baltic region will also have to be strengthened,’ he said.

He added that he would be discussing this in Finland at the Baltic Sea summit, which he is going to later on Monday.

– At this summit, the leaders of the Baltic countries will be dealing precisely with how to defend the bottom of the Baltic Sea. We will also talk about the shadow fleet, the Russian shadow fleet, what to do about it, he added.

Rutte highlighted the need for some European countries to invest more in defence in order to exceed the threshold of 2 per cent of their GDP. In his view, the European defence industry also needs to increase production and avoid creating barriers between allies that could hamper innovation. He also pointed out the importance of cooperation with non-European allies within NATO, as well as NATO’s cooperation with the EU.

– NATO focuses on military action, while the EU can use the potential of the single market to strengthen security. Cooperation on resilience is also key, he said.

The Dutchman urged MEPs to support an increase in defence spending, even though this may involve less spending on other purposes. He stressed that this is an investment in the future. In addition, he asked for continued support for Ukraine, stressing that its freedom was tantamount to Europe’s freedom.

Source: PortalMorski.pl