Europe-wide conscription? Rutte addresses growing speculation
Photo: Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General (Getty Images)
In an interview with The New York Times, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the decision to implement military conscription in Europe would be made by individual countries.
During the conversation, Rutte was asked whether he believes Europe will have to introduce conscription. He replied in the negative.
"No, no, that's up to the individual countries to decide. Some countries will do it. Finland already has conscription. Others will not do it, but it will mean, in general, paying good salaries for our men and women in uniform," said the NATO Secretary General.
He also emphasized that what worries him most is the defense industry, as the entire Alliance is facing issues in this area. According to him, this affects NATO's ability to deter Russia and other threats.
"We simply lack the defense industrial base to produce the weapons we need to make sure that we can deter the Russians or the North Koreans or whoever to attack us. And this we are working on very quickly now," Rutte stressed.
Russia's war against NATO
In the same interview, Mark Rutte said that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is not going to wage war against Estonia at this time. The reason is that NATO and the United States would defend a member state of the alliance, and the Kremlin leader knows it.
However, Rutte did not rule out that in the future — in five to seven years — Putin might attempt an attack.
He also expressed the view that China could push Russia into going to war with NATO countries, particularly to divert attention from the Asia-Pacific region.
The Secretary General believes that if China were to make such a decision, Beijing would likely use Moscow to launch an attack on Europe.
