BRUSSELS, Belgium – On Tuesday, secretary-general Mark Rutte called on NATO Allies, partners and industry to “unite, innovate and deliver” to ensure the Alliance is able to “win this new war of production”.
Speaking at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in The Hague, Rutte emphasised the significant steps the Alliance is taking to strengthen its defence industrial capacity, increase cooperation, enhance innovation, and expand hundreds of new and existing production lines. “There’s no defence without a strong defence industry, and there’s no European security without a strong transatlantic bond,” Rutte said.
Urging Allies and industry to do more, better and together, the secretary-general highlighted the clear demand signal NATO is sending to the defence industry, through the massive uplift Allies have agreed in capability targets.
Joined onstage by the president of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen, Rutte welcomed the European Union’s Readiness 2030 plan that promises to unleash up to 800 billion euros for defence, and encouraged the removal of barriers to transatlantic defence cooperation.
President Zelenskyy of Ukraine also made a speech at the event urging further security assistance and increased defence industrial cooperation between NATO Allies and Ukraine. Zelenskyy highlighted Ukraine’s growing defence industry and its world-leading drone production in particular, as an attractive basis for further collaboration.
The NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum brought together defence ministers, industry leaders and experts from across the Alliance and beyond to identify practical solutions to strengthen transatlantic defence industrial cooperation, boost production capacity, support innovation, and harness the potential of the commercial space sector.
At the start of the event, business leaders from Europe and North America presented the secretary-general with an ambition statement, reflecting their collective commitment to support NATO’s Industrial Capacity Expansion Pledge for the ‘prosperity, security and resilience of the Transatlantic economy and society’. NATO also released its first public version of the Updated Defence Production Action Plan, which outlines NATO’s commitment to aggregate demand, boost capacity and strengthen engagement with industry.