NATO Secretary General at NATO Parliamentary Assembly Spring Session, USA 🇺🇸, 26 MAY 2025

Address by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, followed by a moderated conversation, Dayton, OH, USA, 26 May 2025.

🗣 | NATO Secretary General:

Thank you Marcos, and thank you Andrii for your incredible leadership in Ukraine. And I think it was very important to have that address today to this important gathering.

And thank you to Mike Turner and the whole US team for the warm welcome to Dayton.

First, I want to pay tribute to Gerry Connolly. He was a powerful advocate for our great Alliance, a champion of the transatlantic bond and a fearless defender of the democratic values we hold dear. We met a couple of times. First when I was Prime Minister of the Netherlands, and then twice in my present role. And I have the best of memories of these encounters. And I can tell you also in private, he could be very forceful. Let us honour his memory by continuing to stand strong and united in NATO.

Despite these sad circumstances, it is a pleasure to join you this session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
And to celebrate your 70th anniversary year.

The NPA promotes peace, security and democracy.
Strengthens transatlantic cooperation.
And builds understanding about our great Alliance.

You reinforce the bond between NATO and our democratic societies.

You have my admiration and deepest thanks.

I’m so pleased we are meeting in Dayton, a great city in the great state of Ohio.

And I was delighted to hear about the Dayton Dutch Lions, a local football team – or I suppose you in the United States would say “soccer”.

The Dutch philosophy for the “beautiful game” is all about strategic thinking, adaptability, and strong teamwork.

Today, I want to share with you how we are going to build a better NATO.
At the Summit in The Hague next month, Allied leaders will take decisions to make NATO a stronger, fairer and more lethal Alliance.

Because we live in a more dangerous world.
And this is a critical moment for our security.
With multiple threats and challenges.

There is Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine,
the threat of terrorism,
intense global competition,
and flashpoints points around the world,
from the Middle East to Asia.

Russia has teamed up with China, North Korea and Iran.
They are expanding their militaries and their capabilities. They are preparing for long-term confrontation.
I am struck by the speech Winston Churchill made in the House of Commons in 1936, when he asked the question:

“Will there be time to put our defences in order? …. Will there be time to make these necessary efforts, or will the awful words "too late" be recorded?”

Peace fails when there’s complacency,
when threats go unanswered,
and when preparations are put off.

We must take action now and build up our defences.
To delay is dangerous.

To make NATO stronger, we must increase defence spending – that underpins everything.

Allies will have to invest much more to meet new capability targets, which NATO Defence Ministers will agree in Brussels next week.

We need more resources, forces and capabilities so that we are prepared to face any threat, and to implement our collective defence plans in full.

Most Allies, if not all, are due to reach the initial aim of spending 2% of GDP on defence this year.

And many have already announced plans to go much further.
We know that the 2% pledge – agreed way back in 2014 – just doesn’t cut it any more.

So in 2025, we are finalising a plan to dramatically increase defence spending across the Alliance.

This plan will mean more money for our core military requirements – hard defence.
And more money for defence-related investments, including infrastructure and resilience.

I am working closely with Allied leaders as we prepare for the formal decisions at the Summit in The Hague.

As parliamentarians, I need your help to make the case for higher defence spending with the public.
And to encourage your governments to keep up with their commitments.

And I know the debates about investing more in defence will be difficult in some parliaments.
And each of you will have an important role in building support to get budgets approved.
So I need – and NATO needs – your support.

Transcript continues: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/op...

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