Joint press conference

Mr President, dear Peter,

It is wonderful to be with you here in Bratislava. It is good to be back.
Slovakia has been a valued Ally now for over 20 years. And you are still that Ally. You are very much involved and committed to NATO.

You host one of NATO’s multinational Forward Land Forces. And indeed I visited the troops there this morning, and it was very impressive.

This presence is a vital part of how we collectively deter aggression and defend our eastern flank.
Slovakia is also the framework nation for the Headquarters Multinational Division Centre in Hungary, which became fully operational last week.

Alongside Hungary and Croatia, you have worked hard to deliver this project, demonstrating that we are adapting to new challenges. And showcasing how working together in NATO bolsters deterrence and defence for us all.
Over the past week, Europe has seen an extraordinary level of engagement by the new US Administration, at NATO Headquarters, in Munich, and now in Washington where your Prime Minister Robert Fico is today.
The US has made crystal clear its commitment to a strong NATO. This should not be in doubt.
And that commitment comes with an expectation that all NATO Allies are contributing their fair share. 
Defence spending across the Alliance is on an upward trajectory. Last year it increased by 20% for Europe and Canada.
Slovakia spends 2% of GDP on defence – and this is crucially important.
But growing threats will require greater investment. This is part of what we discussed today.
We know that the target, the 2014 target of 2%, will not keep us safe in the years ahead. Allies must invest more.

Today we also discussed the Russian war against Ukraine.
Eleven years ago, Russia invaded Crimea.
Three years ago, Putin began his full-scale invasion.
He thought it would be over in just a few days.
But he underestimated Ukrainian resilience.
And he underestimated Allied resolve.
 
Ukraine is not just our partner; it is your neighbour.
We all want to see an end to the terrible aggression against Ukraine. And it is vital that any deal reached brings an enduring peace. That Russia will never again try to take one more square kilometre of Ukrainian land.
This will require robust, as you said, security guarantees – and NATO Allies are actively discussing what that might entail.
While there is much that still needs to be decided, there is no question that Europe has a vital role to play in securing peace in Ukraine.
We have been in close touch with the US administration on this at every level.  And we all agree that we need an enduring peace in Ukraine.
As US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said last week in Brussels – no Minsk 3, it has to be an enduring and lasting peace deal.
And the White House special envoy consulted with Allies in the North Atlantic Council on Monday. That was a very successful meeting, in advance of the meeting with Russian officials this week. And of course, he is now himself traveling to Ukraine, and is now in Ukraine, discussing with Ukrainian leadership.
At the same time, we should continue to strengthen Ukraine’s hand.
So that, they can come to the negotiating table from a position of strength.
As an Alliance, we are delivering on commitments made at the Washington Summit.
We have surpassed our financial pledge – providing more than 50 billion euros of security assistance in the past year.
The command in Wiesbaden is also now operational coordinating the delivery of training and equipment for Ukraine.
Even so, as the full-scale invasion enters in its fourth year, we must dig deeper.

The world is becoming more dangerous,
But NATO remains ready to deter and defend.
To tackle the range of challenges we face together.

So, again thank you – dear Peter.
Together, NATO is stronger because of Slovakia.
And Slovakia is safer because of NATO.
Thank you so much.

Question

[inaudible] have strictly been refusing increased defence expenditures, if they will refuse once, even once agreed. What about those countries? What will happen to them? What about countries deciding to increase investments but to distribute it, break it down into dual use, for instance? Thank you.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte

First of all, I'm happy that now 23 countries are spending the agreed 2%. Slovakia is among them. But it's also true that there are still a few countries not spending 2%. And I'm engaging with them actively and intensely to make sure that they speed up reaching the 2%. And I think they all have to do that by next summer. And I tell them, if you do not react to my phone calls, you might get phone calls from a very nice man in Washington who has more of a time limit on what he wants to achieve. So if not me, then they might get phone calls from somebody else. We all really have to get to the 2%. That is crucial.

Then, of course, we have to decide on the next target, and we will do that in The Hague NATO Summit. And the President will be there. But we will not do it like in 2014 by saying, 'okay, let's get to a number.' We will base it now on a process within NATO, the capability targeting process, which will deliver the gaps between where we are and where we should be. And when you look at those gaps now emerge, but we are not there yet. We are still finalising all the work, that it is clear that 2% is not enough, that it will be much more. I think it will be considerably more than 3% at least. We'll see where we get to.

And then, of course, we also need to decide on a time path. And I think we have to decide on an ambitious time path to get to the new target. So, not like in 2014, we decide on 2% and then nothing happened till President Trump was elected. And then all of a sudden, the numbers went up. I think we should now decide on an ambitious time path in The Hague, which will bring us to the new number as soon as possible.

Then, of course, there is always the question of, what can you count within the spending numbers? And what can you not count within the spending numbers? I know that, particularly with Slovakia, which I totally understand, I cannot answer now exactly what will be the outcome. But we agreed that we will continue the discussion also [with] our advisors to see what we can do, what we cannot do. Because in the end, of course, there are rules within NATO, what is part of the spending and what is not. So I totally understand the requirement from Slovakia, but again, we have to make sure that it fits in the system, and we will continue that discussion.

Question

Yesterday, you were criticizing President Macron for Slovakia not being invited to any one of those informal summits held in Paris. Prime Minister Fico said that we have not even been interested in such invitation. The Prime Minister said they wouldn't know what he would do there, because it was a meeting of friends of war. What he said, those were his words. So to both of you gentlemen, I would like to ask to get the general and the president whether these words are not in contradiction with what we just said now, what you just said now here, and whether there is now a two speed Europe as a result now happening. Slovakia will be EU and NATO member, but due to this opinion, will be pushed to the fringes as a result.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte

Let me first say that Slovakia is more integrated, integrated than most countries in EU and NATO. You are in Schengen, you are in the Eurozone, you are in the European Union, you are at NATO, and you are a valued member in all of these organizations and sub organizations, so that has to be absolutely clear, and you can have differences of opinion. We are, EU and NATO, are both based on democracy and the understanding that you can have your debates. But in the end, we always get together. I was sitting next to you and next to Prime Minister Fico for many years in the European Council, and I knew that when it really was necessary, we would always get an agreement. And this is what you need to have. You're amongst friends. So I'm absolutely not worried about Slovakia's role in NATO or in the EU.

When it comes to Paris, exactly as the President said in his introductory remarks, I was a bit irritated in Munich. That the reaction of many Europeans was, when the peace initiative was announced in the US, "we are not involved. Can we be at a table, etc, etc." And I said, "organize yourselves. Fight yourself to a table," whatever that table exactly entails. That's why it was so important that we had General Kellogg visiting NATO headquarters and briefing the ambassadors last Monday.

I think the meeting President Macron organized also has to be seen in that light, and there will be many other meetings. I was on Monday present. I was not on Wednesday present. There might be other meetings where the president of Slovakia is there. I'm not there. Somebody else is not there. That is not important. Important is that somehow in Europe, we are discussing how to organize the security guarantees into Ukraine post a peace deal. And that is a step by step process, as always in Europe, never immediately. It brings you to a final, joint, conclusion, which is not a problem, because we still have some time, but I'm happy that, at least in Europe, we stopped whining and started acting, getting our act together, and our talks today also very much focused on this so Paris was not a stand-alone. It is part of a bigger process. Maybe Slovakia will organize something, or the Poles, or the Brits. We'll see.

But step by step, we have to make sure that we dialog, strategize amongst each other, to make sure that we positively engaged in what I think is an important initiative from President Trump, which is to get Ukraine to a lasting peace.