NATO Secretary General urges Germany to increase arms production

Germany will have to increase arms production, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in an interview with the Bild newspaper on February 1. He also expressed the opinion that the country needs to increase military spending.

"Given the size of the German economy, we naturally want [the country] to do much more. And I am convinced that for Germany, with its fantastic arms companies and innovation potential, this means that we will have to increase production. Germany needs to increase military spending," Rutte emphasized.

According to him, the issue of arms production will be the subject of debate in many European countries in the near future. Rutte also specified that the states need to improve performance in this area, including taking into account that China is enormously increasing its military capabilities.

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Earlier, on January 16, NATO Secretary General urged the alliance countries to switch to a wartime way of thinking. According to him, this is necessary to prepare for coming dangers and prevent conflicts.

Later, on January 21, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he would push for North Atlantic Treaty Organization member states to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.

At the same time, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on February 1 that the German side opposes the proposal of the American leader. In his opinion, such a figure is too large even on the scale of the FRG alone.