Early last year, Hegseth had bitter words to say about NATO's capabilities and the defense budgets of Canada and the European NATO countries. But Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte assures us that Hegseth is a great friend of NATO.
But he has said that the US has expectations of NATO and has made it clear that European countries and Canada must set their defense budgets to match those of the US, says Rutte.
Both Rutte and Hegseth talk about a NATO 3.0, a NATO that can, wants to, and is capable of more when it comes to meeting military threats. A step on the way was the decision at last year's NATO summit in The Hague, where the alliance agreed to aim for the equivalent of 5 percent of GDP for defense.
One of the items at the meeting in Brussels, and at the NATO summit in Ankara in July, is to check how NATO countries are progressing towards the 5 percent target for defense spending, covering military and total defense. The goal is to be reached by 2035.
According to Mark Rutte, Europe is on the right track. He highlights a 20 percent increase in defense budgets last year and that a country like Germany is doubling its defense budget.
