NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called on NATO member countries to increase their defense spending more than the 2% of GDP required by the Alliance’s rules on Monday from Lisbon during a press conference he gave with the Prime Minister of Portugal, Luis Montenegro.

Rutte explained that the 2% targetwhich was set a decade ago, is now considered inadequate in order to face the new challenges raised by Russia’s aggression, as reported by Reuters.

“We know that the 2% target, established a decade ago, is not sufficient to meet the challenges of tomorrow,” Rutte said.

“To maintain NATO’s strength, we must continue to ensure our security well into the future, and we must accelerate our efforts today. This means that we must spend more on our defense“, added the Secretary General of the Alliance.

At the same time, however, the Portuguese prime minister limited himself to reiterating that Lisbon is committed to reaching the 2% target by 2029. Luís Montenegro added that Portugal was looking for ways to reach this target earlier, but stressed that this would depend on whether it will be able to increase defense investment without jeopardizing its small primary surplus. It is noted that Portugal’s defense spending was set at 1.5% of its GDP in 2023, below the NATO target.

It is noted that the NATO member countries are going to discuss the possibility of increasing the defense spending target at the summer meeting in Prague, in the context of the discussion that has opened after the “demand” of the American President Donald Trump to raise the percentage of defense spending to 5% of GDP.

Rutte repeated Western accusations that Russia is trying to destabilize NATO members by carrying out a series of aggressive actions ranging from assassination attempts to cyber attacks and sabotage as it continues to wage a barbaric war in Ukraine.