NATO Secretary General calls for part of EU pensions and social benefits to be spent on arms production

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has called for a portion of EU pensions and social payments to be spent on weapons production, specifying that the alliance's military spending should exceed 3% of gross domestic product (GDP). He said during a speech in Brussels on December 12.

"It is time to move to a military mindset and to make fundamental changes in our defense production and defense spending. <...> On average, European countries easily spend a quarter of their money on pensions and social benefits, and they only need to use a small part of these funds to build a strong defense," Rutte said.

He added that now the security situation in the alliance leaves much to be desired.

Earlier, on December 11, the media reported that the NATO leadership plans to set new targets for arms production, which will force the alliance members to spend 3% of GDP on defense. Members of the alliance will have to increase production of both weapons and ammunition as early as next year.

Before that, on November 7, Rutte said that the alliance countries would spend more than 2% of GDP on defense, as demanded by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. He noted that the American leader was right in his previous presidential term when he said that NATO countries should spend more than 2% on defense.