Keir Starmer must raise defence spending higher and faster
Mark Rutte, the former prime minister of the Netherlands, has been secretary general of Nato for less than nine months. He knew when he decided to seek the job that it would not be easy, but even the famously phlegmatic and unflappable Dutchman cannot have foreseen the intensity of events. On Monday, he gave a speech at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, better known as Chatham House.
Rutte's address was billed as preparation for the annual Nato Summit, taking place in The Hague later this month. It allowed him to sketch out an agenda, and he did so with clarity and frankness, focusing on defence spending and the immediacy of the threat posed to Nato member states by Russia and its network of allies.
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Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Hungary's government to privatise majority of its stake in the defence industry
BUDAPEST, June 12 (Reuters) - Hungary's government plans to sell a large slice of its stake in its defence industry, which includes a holding in Rheinmetall's local factory, to 4iG Group, the Economy Ministry said late on Wednesday. The move comes as nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government gears up for an election next year, where he is facing his strongest challenge since he returned to power in 2010. Under the terms of the plan, state-owned N7 Holding, which owns stakes in nine defence industry companies, will transfer ownership of the assets to a newly established subsidiary, N7 Defence Zrt. 4iG ( opens new tab subsidiary 4iG SDT will then buy a 75% plus one vote majority in N7 Defence Zrt. The rest of the shares will still be owned by the Hungarian government. The government said it estimates the sale to be worth up to 82.8 billion forints ($238.4 million). The deal includes the government's stake in German defence contractor Rheinmetall's Hungarian subsidiary, the Airbus Helicopters factory, and a firearms factory. Hungary announced a programme to modernise and rearm its military in 2017. Since then, it has bought tanks, helicopters and air defence systems, and invited foreign companies to invest and set up manufacturing plants on its territory. Germany's Rheinmetall ( opens new tab started the production of its new Lynx infantry fighting vehicle in Hungary in 2023. Hungary is a NATO member state that shares a border with Ukraine where Russia's February 2022 invasion started the deadliest war on European soil in more than 70 years. 4iG has in recent years become Hungary's dominant information and communications technology group through acquisitions, lucrative state contracts and organic growth. Its CEO Gellert Jaszai accompanied Orban to Mar-a-Lago in December 2024 where, according to his LinkedIn page, he met U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. 4iG's share price was up 6.4% by 0722 GMT on Thursday. Opposition leader Peter Magyar said in a statement that the privatisation plan was "tantamount to treason" and urged the government to halt the transaction. According to several polls, Magyar's centre-right Tisza party is ahead of Orban's Fidesz. ($1 = 347.32 forints)
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Reeves pours cold water on Nato demands for more defence spending making clear it WON'T go over 2.5% of GDP before 2029 and hinting 3% will be the limit in the next Parliament
played down the prospects of ramping up defence spending today despite mounting pressure from Donald Trump. The Chancellor stressed that Labour had only committed to hitting 2.5 per cent of GDP in the current Parliament. And she suggested the 'ambition' after 2029 remains to reach a level of 3 per cent - even though Nato states are being asked to agree a target of 3.5 per cent at a summit later this month. The blueprint being pushed by Mr Trump and the military alliance's secretary general Mark Rutte would see countries pledge to hit the higher spending by the early 2030s. A further 1.5 per cent of GDP would be required for 'defence-related expenditure'. A timetable could be set for gradually increasing their allocations. However, there are questions about how the UK would fund such an huge increase - roughly equivalent to an extra £30billion annually. Britain allocated 2.33 per cent of GDP to defence last year, and is set to reach 2.5 per cent by April 2027. The Labour Government has an 'ambition' of increasing that to 3 per cent in the next parliament - likely to run to 2034. In a round of broadcast interviews this morning, Ms Reeves said the Spending Review she laid out yesterday included the 'biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War'. 'The commitment on defence in our manifesto was 2.5 per cent… we've said 3 per cent in the next Parliament,' she told Sky News. The Chancellor said the spending plans only covered this 'this Parliament'. She said: 'We will set out costed and funded plans in due course, but in this Parliament the commitment was to get to 2.5 per cent.. ' The generous fiscal envelope set by the Chancellor last Autumn has been put under massive pressure by the economy slowing down and Mr Trump 's trade war. That has led analysts and political rivals to argue that more tax increases are 'inevitable' - although the funding gap will not crystalise until the next fiscal package. The US itself missed the proposed Nato target by spending 3.38 per cent of GDP on defence last year - although the sheer size of its economy meant that dwarfed contributions from the rest of the alliance. Countries such as Germany face finding upwards of $60billion a year more for the military. The increase in Italy would be equivalent to around $46billion, Canada $45billion, France £44billion and the UK roughly $40billion. Spain - which has not invested heavily in defence up to now - could need to allocate an additional $36billion despite its economy being much smaller. The UK's Strategic Defence Review, published last week, recommended sweeping changes, including a greater focus on new technology, including drones and artificial intelligence based on rising budgets.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
European foreign ministers meet in Rome to discuss defence and security plans
Update: Date: 2025-06-12T07:39:24.000Z Title: Morning opening: What's Europe's plan for Ukraine? Content: European foreign ministers – from Italy, France, Germany, Poland, UK, Spain, Ukraine – meet in Rome today for talks in the Weimar+ model. They will be joined by Nato's secretary general Mark Rutte and the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas. Their meeting will be a chance to discuss Europe's defence and security plans ahead of the Nato summit in The Hague later this month and coordinate their positions on Ukraine, ahead both Nato and G7 summits. Separately, German defence minister Boris Pistorius is in Kyiv this morning, on his first trip to Ukraine since the new government of Friedrich Merz took office. But as there is no progress in talks with Russia, and their lethal attacks on Ukraine continue daily, there is a big question looming over the meeting: what is the plan for Ukraine? Let's see if we get any clarity on this today. I will bring you all the key updates here. It's Thursday, 12 June 2025, it's Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live. Good morning.
