We gotta buy more, buy together, and buy the same thing. Our prosperity is based on our freedom and security, not the another way around. NATO is 50% of global economical and military potential. So we have the ability to strengthen our defences and proceed to support Ukraine," says Adm. Rob Bauer, head of NATO Military Committee.
Despite calls from NATO headquarters, not all members of the Alliance are inactive following the advice to devote 2% of GDP to defence. What else needs to happen to make allies realize the request to increase spending?
Adm. Rob Bauer: Alliances are truly taking action in terms of investment in defence. erstwhile this commitment was made 10 years ago, only 3 countries spent 2% or more of their GDP on defence. By comparison, this year 23 allies will scope this ceiling. Moreover, on summit in Washington NATO leaders reported that spending on the defence of European allies and Canada increased by 18% in 2024, which is the largest increase in decades. So we're on the right path. Allies besides invest more in modern capabilities and increase their contribution to NATO operations, missions and activities. This makes a large difference and shows that we take safety highly seriously. At the same time, allies in Washington confirmed that for many countries spending more than 2% of GDP would be essential to destruct existing deficits and meet the requirements in all domains.
Without spending 2% of GDP, can we be certain that allied forces' combat capabilities will be developed to a level that meets the current challenges?
NATO is stronger and more ready than always before. An example is “Steadfast Defender 24” exercise, which besides took place in Poland. From January to May this year, 90 000 soldiers from all NATO countries have shown that the Alliance is ready to deploy quickly, including on the east flank. We are able to face any threat from any direction.
NATO has completely revised its military strategies and defence planning in fresh years. We have developed regional defence plans that describe how we will defend key and crucial places in our Alliance against the 2 threats described in the strategical concept and NATO military strategy, namely Russia and terrorist groups. It requires better prepared soldiers and greater abilities. The fresh defence plans go hand in hand with fresh requirements regarding the structure of forces. This means that allies now know precisely what means or abilities are required of them in the war scenario, where and what they are to deploy and what their tasks will be.
We've made tremendous advancement at a evidence rate. But it is crucial that we proceed to develop. A large aid in all of this is the fact that military planning processes at NATO level and in individual associate States are now integrated as never before. This will let us to do precisely what the NATO flag symbolizes: all allies will follow the indication of the same compass.
Poland is 1 of NATO countries that spend more than 2% of GDP on the military and support the thought of further expanding the level of expenditure recommended under NATO. What do you think of specified proposals?
Poland is surely setting an example, spending about 4% of GDP on defence, which puts it at the head of all allies in this category and allows to build modern military. I would again like to draw attention to the declaration of the Washington Summit, in which the leaders confirmed that in many cases expenditure exceeding 2% of GDP will be essential to address existing deficits and meet the demands of all domains.
Is the thought of a dynamic increase in defence spending real, and how could this translate into an increase in the capabilities of the militant allies?
The specified increase in investment in defence is not enough. We besides request to increase production capacity throughout the Alliance. Otherwise, prices will emergence rapidly and we will pay much more for precisely the same.
We are on the emergence erstwhile it comes to weapons capabilities, but we inactive request to accelerate due to the fact that the planet is not becoming safer. In Washington, NATO leaders committed to developing industrial capacity According to the Defence Production Action Plan agreed at the Vilnius Summit in 2023. Transatlantic industrial cooperation in defence is simply a key component in the deterrence and defence of NATO.
Simply put, we gotta buy more, we gotta buy together, and we gotta buy the same thing. At the same time, companies must put long-term common safety ahead of short-term, individual commercial interests. Our prosperity is based on our freedom and security, not the another way around. NATO is 50% of global economical and military potential. So we have the ability to strengthen our own defence and continue to support Ukraine.
Many NATO countries have decided to hand over weapons to Ukraine from their arsenals. However, any of them impose restrictions on its use. How does NATO address this issue and take steps to guarantee that these restrictions are not besides far-reaching?
Russia attacked a sovereign, independent, democratic and free country in Europe and NATO supports Ukraine in its defence. However, the Alliance does not have a mandate to impose on associate States what restrictions they should or should not impose. This is simply a sovereign national decision and there may be very reasonable reasons for doing so. At the same time, erstwhile it comes to, for example, deep blows behind the front line, war art dictates having the ability to attack an archer, not just arrows. As long as the mark is simply a military target, the law of armed conflict does not prohibit attacking an aggressor. All of this is part of self-defense, as stated in the UN Charter.
Cooperation between Dutch and German land forces, i.e. Submission of Dutch units to German command, is simply a unique solution in NATO. How does this cooperation model work all day? Can the experience thus gained be utilized by another allies to make specified global cooperation?
Deep integration is simply a form of intelligent global defence. It can aid to gain knowledge, abilities and strength. This is how we can better fulfil our commitments to NATO. This is surely not easy, but in the past fewer decades, many countries have proved that they can make it a success.
Germany and the Netherlands are part of this group. In fact, they are pioneers in this area. An example is the 414 Tank Battalion. The Dutch company, utilizing German Leopard 2 tanks, is part of the German tank battalion, which in turn is part of the Dutch brigade subject to the German armored division. Integration reaches the level at which German and Dutch soldiers operate the same tank during training. They have harmonised procedures, techniques and tactics. This has achieved procedural and method interoperability. And now – the 3rd phase of integration: cultural interoperability.
Can the Dutch-German model be considered a prelude to the creation of truly global tactical unions in the future, for example under the aegis of NATO?
With decades of joint planning, training and training, NATO armies have reached a advanced level of interoperability. The Alliance has been developing peculiar programs for years, specified as the Joint Forces Initiative. They are designed to guarantee that we have a coherent set of forces ready to deploy, which are equipped, trained and commanded in specified a way that they can work together in any environment. Interoperability is besides key in NATO multi-national battalion combat groups On our east flank.
It is not excluded that we will witness deeper integration among allies, most likely in binational formations or in tiny groups. In general, we are getting closer and closer to each other. For example Finland and Sweden joining the Alliance gave a immense boost to Nordic defence cooperation.
For respective years, much has been said about the request to change national regulations in order to reduce bureaucratic procedures and facilitate the movement of allied troops within the NATO area. Unfortunately, this process is not progressing fast enough...
NATO has a function to play here. In Washington, NATO leaders have declared that they are accelerating the modernization of collective defense. This includes increased mobility capacity, supply and maintenance of allied forces, including through efficient and resilient logistics and the improvement of alleged land corridors. specified initiatives are already taking place in NATO. For example, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands have already agreed on the creation of a "military Schengen".
To further increase mobility, we request both NATO and the EU to usage their strengths and search synergies wherever possible. In 2018, we established a Structural dialog on Military Mobility, which brings together key stakeholders of both organizations. It allows to discuss priorities specified as military requirements, transport infrastructure, the transport of dangerous goods, customs clearances and permissions to travel across borders and exercise. Since then, NATO has contributed to the improvement and updating of EU military requirements for military mobility within and outside the EU, in peculiar with respect to critical transport infrastructure.
