Melike Pala
26 February 2026•Update: 26 February 2026
BRUSSELS
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Thursday encouraged European allies to focus on delivering higher defense spending commitments rather than questioning Washington's role in the alliance, saying stronger European contributions would further anchor the US to NATO.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Brussels with Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, Rutte said Europeans should concentrate on implementing pledges made at the NATO summit in The Hague, particularly increasing defense budgets.
"I would really encourage Europeans to stop worrying about United States and do as much as they can in implementing like Lithuania is doing, and luckily, most allies are doing, as we speak, implementing the commitments we made in The Hague, because that makes us strong, and it anchors the United States even more into NATO," he said.
Rutte stressed that the US remains fully committed to the alliance, including commitment to Article 5, the collective defense principle.
The NATO chief highlighted sharp increases in European defense spending, pointing to Lithuania's nearly 5.4% of GDP allocation to core defense and Germany's plans to double defense spending.
"This is what the US wanted. This is why the US was irritated with Europe, because we were not spending the same as they were spending. We are now equalizing," Rutte said.
Rutte added that NATO is now stronger than at any point since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, as allies refocus on the alliance's core mission of deterrence and defense.
On air defense, he said strengthening the capabilities across the Baltic region is a top priority, with plans to ramp up territorial air defense capacity by around 400% over time.
"We can defend ourselves today, but we want to be sure that also in 2, 4, 6 years from now, we are able to defend every inch of NATO territory," he added.
Asked about Hungary's blocking of an EU loan to Ukraine and new sanctions on Russia, Rutte described Hungary as a valued ally and said his role was to be constructive behind the scenes, without commenting publicly on ongoing discussions involving Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Meanwhile, Lithuanian Premier Ruginiene stressed that continued support for Ukraine is essential, adding: "Stopping this kind of support is not acceptable for us."
She said that NATO remains the cornerstone of her country's security amid daily military and hybrid pressure, urging allies to move swiftly toward allocating at least 3.5% of GDP to defense.
