NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and NATO Heads of State and Government, Source: NATO
What was the main thing you heard about the NATO summit in The Hague over 24th and 25th of June? Was it the agreement on increasing the defense budget to 5% by the NATO countries’ leaders? Or was it the extreme safety measures, under the nickname Orange Shield, which led the city to close off entire sections of the city, making this the biggest security operation in Dutch history?
The world leaders of all 32 NATO countries came, including representatives of Ukraine along with president Zelensky. The Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima hosted a social dinner for the leaders. In a busy 2-day agenda NATO Defence Ministers held a working dinner at the same time.
Defense Spending Going up
The main result is the defense budget increase to 5% of GDP until the year 2035. Member countries now have to prepare annual plans on how to achieve this goal with a realistic path. For now, none of the member countries comes close to this number, with the closest one being Poland with a plan to increase their defense spending proportion of GDP to 4.7%. Polish president Donald Tusk said that the eastern flank needs to be strengthened to be ready to be the first line of protection for Europe, against Russia’s aggression.
The aim of 5% is to divide it with 3.5% for military and 1.5% for infrastructure related to defense, cybersecurity, or medical facilities. European allies hope that this step calms down Donald Trump and his threats to stop supporting European defense.
Who is the biggest issue for the underspending in NATO? This year it’s Spain and it’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who said that his country does not need the 5% of GDP budget increase. He also thanked the allies for respecting Spain’s sovereignty, by letting him opt out of the decision. The second place in contradicting the ruling of NATO is Slovakia, who said his country has different priorities.
Sánchez also described the war in Gaza as genocide, as the most senior official in the EU to do so, following an EU report on Israel’s breach on human rights. He called out his EU colleagues for not suspending the trade deal with Israel.
The summit also reiterated the Article 5 of the Washington declaration, stating that an attack on one member is an attack on all of them. The declaration coming from the summit also promises further support for Ukraine, however does not directly call out Russia as an aggressor.
Operation Orange Shield
The Netherlands went all out – combat helicopters, sea patrols, bomb squads, air defense systems and over 10,000 members of the military police staff all ready to protect the leaders coming to the Hague. Fences rose up in a radius of around 5 kilometers around the summit venue and flights within the radius of 16 kilometers around The Hague were redirected. Also, no wifi; the whole summit ran on cable internet connection stretched over the whole venue.
All Eyes on Trump
The main meeting of NATO leaders was allegedly shortened, because the president of the US does not like long meetings. Le Monde called out the organizers for planning everything in a way that Donald Trump does not cause a scandal. Another “viral” moment of the summit happened even before Trump landed, when he published messages from the Secretary General of NATO and former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte. See the message for yourself below.
Source: Truth social