Yesterday, in his first major speech as NATO chief, Mark Rutte told the citizens of Europe and Canada that “it is time to shift to a wartime mindset” — and Dutch experts agree.
The speech, delivered at a Brussels event by think tank Carnegie Europe, also urged politicians to increase military spending to “prevent the next big war on NATO territory” and “preserve our way of life,” according to NATO’s website.
“The security situation does not look good”
Stressing how NATO politicians need the people’s support to make “difficult decisions,” Rutte framed his speech as a wake-up call to Europeans.
“The security situation does not look good,” he warned. “It’s undoubtedly the worst in my lifetime. And I suspect in yours, too.”
“They’re testing us”
The NATO chief spoke at length about the situation in Ukraine, about which “we should be profoundly concerned.”
He thinks that “Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation. With Ukraine, and with us.”
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In his view, this is all part of a larger threat posed by Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, which are “hard at work to try to weaken North America and Europe, to chip away at our freedom,” and “reshape the global order.”
According to Rutte, “they’re testing us, and the rest of the world is watching.”
This means that, while there is no imminent military threat, “we are not at war. But we are certainly not at peace either.”
Increasing military spending to prevent war
According to Rutte, NATO countries “are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years.”
As such, they need to ramp up military spending, even if it means cutting spending on healthcare and social welfare.
Rutte urged governments to “give our industries the big orders and long-term contracts they need,” and citizens to “tell your banks and pension funds it is simply unacceptable that they refuse to invest in the defence industry.”
He is convinced that this is the only way to prevent war because “without strong defence, there is no lasting security. And without security, there is no freedom.”
“If we don’t spend more together now to prevent war, we will pay a much, much, much higher price later to fight it,” he concluded.
Dutch experts agree
The scariest part? Dutch experts seem to agree with Rutte’s views.
Speaking to NU.nl, both Irregular Warfare and Special Operations professor Martijn Kitzen and War Studies professor Frans Ozinga doubled down on Rutte’s speech.
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“People do see that there is a lot of conflict and threat, but that does not translate into urgency so quickly,” says Kitzen.
“To defend us against war, you have to be able to deter [enemies] credibly. You do that with a credible army and credible investments,” he adds.
“It’s about changing our mindset. We’re so used to everything working,” says Osinga, “but we have to be prepared to make certain sacrifices, prepared to invest in critical infrastructure.”
These expert opinions are not a complete surprise. After all, the news that the Netherlands is considering reintroducing full military conscription is about ten days old.
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„Stell dir vor es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin.“
Krieg war schon immer ein Instrument der Elite, indem es um Geld geht. Nicht um Menschenleben, nicht um gesunden Menschenverstand. Einen Krieg stoppen, indem man noch mehr Krieg macht ? Wie irre! Ich wünschte dass alle Soldaten, alle Menschen sich nicht mehr an dieser Gehirnwäsche beteiligen und sofort jegliche Kriege boykottieren! PEACE NOW !