NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes that spending 2% of GDP on defense in the alliance countries in the current conditions is no longer enough; it is necessary to increase investment.
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“This is no longer enough to guarantee our security,” NATO Secretary General said in a media interview broadcast on the alliance’s website.
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At the same time, according to him, the “good news” is that 23 of the 32 member states of the alliance have achieved the defense spending target of 2% of GDP, as previously agreed upon by the leaders of the alliance member states.
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“We must be prepared to pay the price of peace. The more funds we have, the stronger our defense will be, the more effective our deterrence system will be, and the security will be at a higher level,” the NATO Secretary General said.
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He explained that new plans to build up NATO’s military power require more spending.
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In the last days of his ten-year tenure as NATO Secretary General, Stoltenberg makes statements in the Western media that sum up his work in the North Atlantic Alliance. On October 1, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, the official transfer of affairs to the new Secretary General of the alliance, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, will take place.