Rutte pledges more cash for defence
Mark Rutte said that the Netherlands should spend more money on defence, at the start of a NATO meeting in Brussels.
By 2024, NATO allies should spend 2% of its GDP on defence, something that the Netherlands does not yet do, reports the NOS.
It currently puts in around 1.3%, and lower spending on defence has been a subject of attack for US president Donald Trump, who has threatened less military support from America if NATO members do not comply.
Rutte pledged to look at this issue next year and in 2020, and he also supported the thrust of an attack by Trump saying that Europe was dependent on Russian gas – although this is not a subject, the NOS pointed out, that is normally part of NATO discussion.
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