During his visit to London last week, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte issued this dire warning about the threat of Russian aggression: “Russia could be ready to use military force against Nato within five years. Let’s not kid ourselves, we are all on the Eastern flank now.” Rutte warned that Russia produces more ammunition in three months than Nato manufactures in a year and spotlit Chinese technology’s critical role in reconstituting Russia’s military arsenal.
Rutte’s stark warning aimed to snap European countries out of their state of complacency but received a mixed reception on the continent. As Russia helplessly watched the destruction of some of its most-prized strategic bombers and struggles to gain a decisive offensive advantage in eastern Ukraine, Rutte’s framing seemed hyperbolic to many in Western Europe.
For the Baltic States, however, Rutte’s rhetoric was not nearly strident enough. Due to his past support for the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline and sluggish approach to increasing defence spending as Dutch Prime Minister, Rutte was already an unpopular figure in the Baltic States. Rutte’s latest comments reawakened those critiques as they depicted Russia as a long-term danger rather than an urgent threat to Nato’s security.
During his visit to London last week, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte issued this dire warning about the threat of Russian aggression: “Russia could be ready to use military force against Nato within five years. Let’s not kid ourselves, we are all on the Eastern flank now.” Rutte warned that Russia produces more ammunition in three months than Nato manufactures in a year and spotlit Chinese technology’s critical role in reconstituting Russia’s military arsenal.
Rutte’s stark warning aimed to snap European countries out of their state of complacency but received a mixed reception on the continent. As Russia helplessly watched the destruction of some of its most-prized strategic bombers and struggles to gain a decisive offensive advantage in eastern Ukraine, Rutte’s framing seemed hyperbolic to many in Western Europe.
For the Baltic States, however, Rutte’s rhetoric was not nearly strident enough. Due to his past support for the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline and sluggish approach to increasing defence spending as Dutch Prime Minister, Rutte was already an unpopular figure in the Baltic States. Rutte’s latest comments reawakened those critiques as they depicted Russia as a long-term danger rather than an urgent threat to Nato’s security.