Quotes
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The first is to keep NATO strong and ensure our defences remain effective and credible, against all threats...My second priority is to step up our support for Ukraine and bring it ever closer to NATO, because there can be no lasting security in Europe without a strong, independent Ukraine...third priority is to strengthen our partnerships in a more interconnected world,
Rutte said
To keep NATO strong and ensure our defence remains effective and credible against all threats, we need more forces, better capabilities faster innovation; this requires more investment,
said Rutte
To truly match the capabilities with the needs, we need significantly more defence spending – we will make sure to invest enough in the right areas – we must each bear our fair share,
he addedPresident Trump, thanks to him, we pushed up the defense spending, we sped up the defense spending since the summit here in 2018 particularly, but also what he said on China is now very much taken on board, I think, by many of us,
Rutte said
I’m good friends with all the senior leaders in EU, and I’m looking forward to working with them,
Rutte said, ... adding thatI welcome, I must say, EU’s efforts on defense,
Rutte stressed, a somewhat more positive stance towards the EU than Stoltenberg, who was skeptical of the bloc’s plans on defense policyObviously you have a point here, that we should have done this earlier,
he said when asked about Dutch spendingI respect them both very much,
Rutte addedThe Kremlin on this particular issue has excellent sources, and I couldn’t have said it in a better way,
he saidWe have to make sure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent, democratic nation.”
Stating that he “cannot wait to get to work”, Rutte told journalists
Mark has the perfect background to become a great secretary-general,
a visibly emotional Stoltenberg said as he ended a decade in officeHe was also pushing us on China, and I think he was right there,
he addedI wish him success in this new position and look forward to productive cooperation to strengthen Euro-Atlantic security and our partnership with the Alliance on Ukraine's path to full membership in NATO."
Quote from Zelenskyy
I deeply appreciate his personal efforts to unite the Allies in helping Ukraine prevail and strengthening the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukraine’s course toward NATO membership is irreversible, and we remain committed to that goal."
Quote from ZelenskyyI think what (Rutte) has to do is be a unifying force, getting across the message very strongly that NATO is facing the test of its times here - the most important challenge that it's faced since the end of the Cold War - and convincing those countries that are falling behind in defence spending to lift their game,
said Davis
I’m sure a Trump administration, if we were to have one again, would be much more critical, more difficult to deal with, (and would) press harder on issues of having Europe spend more (and) do more on defence.”
German Marshall Fund’s Lesser saidIn the second Trump administration, it's much more likely that Trump will be a loose cannon on the world stage. And so therefore, he could do real damage,
Davis told CNA938 on TuesdayIf we look at the potential scenario of a Trump administration returning in 2025, then Rutte will certainly be important in terms of engaging with the Trump administration,
said Malcolm Davis, senior analyst at think tank Australian Strategic Policy InstituteHe is reputed to be a consensus builder, which is obviously necessary in a system with so many competing parties,
said political analyst Ian Lesser, a distinguished fellow at American public policy think tank German Marshall Fund(NATO’s) confronted by an aggressive expansionist Russia along this eastern frontier that's already waging war against Ukraine, and threatens to take that war beyond Ukraine's borders into NATO itself,
said Davis,