It is time to shift to a wartime mindset, says NATO Secretary-General Rutte

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(12 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brussels, Belgium - 12 December 2024
1. NATO Secretary-General, Mark Rutte, walking towards podium
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary-General:
"Our deterrence is good - for now. But it’s tomorrow I’m worried about. We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years. Danger is moving towards us at full speed. We must not look the other way. We must face it. What is happening in Ukraine could happen here too and regardless of the outcome of this war we will not be safe in the future unless we are prepared to deal with danger. We can do that. We can prevent the next big war on NATO territory and preserve our way of life. This requires us all to be faster and fiercer. It is time to shift to a wartime mindset and turbo-charge our defence production and defence spending. On defence production, I am absolutely convinced that ramping it up is a top priority."
3. Media and reporters
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary-General:
"(Russian President, Vladimir) Putin is trying to wipe Ukraine off the map. He is trying to fundamentally change the security architecture that has kept Europe safe for decades. And he is trying to crush our freedom and way of life. His pattern of aggression is not new, but for too long we did not act. Georgia in 2008, Crimea in 2014 and many did not want to believe he would launch all-out war on Ukraine in February 2022. How many more wake-up calls do we need? We should be profoundly concerned. I know I am."
5. Close of camera
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General:
"Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation with Ukraine and with us. Hostile actions against Allied countries are real and accelerating. Malicious cyber-attacks on both sides of the Atlantic. Assassination attempts on British and German soil. Explosions at an ammunition warehouse in Czechia. The weaponization of migrants crossing illegally into Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland. Jamming to disrupt civil aviation in the Baltic region. These attacks are not just isolated incidents. They are the result of a coordinated campaign to destabilise our societies and discourage us from supporting Ukraine. They circumvent our deterrence and bring the front line to our front doors. Even into our homes."
7. Rutte taking a seat on stage
STORYLINE:
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to “wipe Ukraine off the map” and could come after other parts of Europe next, as he urged Europeans to press their governments to ramp up defence spending.

“It is time to shift to a wartime mindset,” Rutte told security experts and analysts at the Carnegie Europe think-tank in Brussels.

He said people should gird themselves for the prospect that Russia might try to use “swarms of drones” in Europe as it has to deadly effect in Ukraine.

Putin, Rutte said, “is trying to crush our freedom and way of life.”

The former Dutch prime minister listed Russia’s attacks on Georgia in 2008, the annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and the all-out invasion launched almost three years ago.

“How many more wake-up calls do we need? We should be profoundly concerned. I know I am,” he said.

“Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation. With Ukraine, and with us."

Rutte’s inaugural speech came just over two months after he took office as NATO’s top civilian official.

He has since toured the capitals of the 32 allies, including a visit with President-elect Donald Trump in the United States, NATO’s most powerful ally.









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