this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2024
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Summary

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned that the alliance must adopt a “wartime mindset” to prepare for long-term confrontation with Russia.

Speaking in Brussels, he urged members to increase defense spending beyond the 2% GDP target, noting that only 23 of 32 members currently meet it.

Rutte emphasized boosting defense production, addressing cyber threats, and countering China’s military buildup and actions toward Taiwan.

His remarks come as Donald Trump threatens to withhold defense support from NATO members failing to meet spending commitments, raising concerns about alliance unity.

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[–] [email protected] 72 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Should have done that a few years ago

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I agree, but better late than never. And absolutely better now than when putin starts bombing some civilians in a NATO country.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Finland seems to be the only member of NATO who hasn't forgotten who their neighbors are. But yes, better late than never.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 weeks ago

Finland isn't the only one. Poland, Baltic states remember well. Even more so than Finland. And that being said as a Finn. Their economy is just either smaller or they have a longer way to go to catch up.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

This is Poland erasure.

Edit: and also the Baltics

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

As an Estonian, I obviously know some jokes about Finns. But I won't go into anything weird or racist because my favourite one is actually relevant and not racist, but more like historic satire.

It's the Winter War. Russians in Finnish territory make camp. Then a voice from the nearby forest yells: "I'm all alone, come and get me!"

The Russian commanders discuss for a moment and agree: Better not send just one man, or the Finn might best him. So they send ten.

Half an hour later, nobody is back, but they again hear the Finn: "I'm still alone, come and get me!". They send a hundred, thinking this will surely be enough.

Finally, the commanders get really irritated to hear the Finn's voice again, so they send a thousand, and this time one man comes back, all bloody and ragged: "Don't listen to that lying piece of shit! There's two of them!"

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

I love this joke! Thanks for sharing

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Like when the war started?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 week ago (7 children)

Can't say I'm a military analyst but if Russia can't take over Ukraine why should NATO be worried, 2% or otherwise? Russia's ongoing sabotage against NATO countries is a job for intelligence and policing. Greasing the palms of the arms industry won't touch that.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Because the industrial base for producing critical things like ammunition is nearly nonexistent. Despite USA and European arms support Ukraine has been permanently shell-starved for the entire course of the war. Three years later, even after spinning up some new production, Ukraine's allies still don't make enough shells to get anywhere close to 1:1 with what the Russians fire at them (and that was before North Korea started supplying the Russians)

The invasion of Ukraine has made it crystal clear that Europe's military industrial base is utterly incapable of responding to an actual peer conflict on their own soil, let alone providing a deterrent to wars of expansion outside of it. It would be foolish not to be investing in sovereign military capability in today's world.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

You're talking like the whole of Europe has been pouring everything it's got into the war in Ukraine, which it hasn't even come close to.

I think Czechia is the only country who has not immediately replenished military aid given to Ukraine. UK arms manufacturers continue to supply the international market. Meanwhile Russia is pulling tanks out of museums, begging from impoverished North Korea and has spent nearly three years capturing 20% of a non-NATO country below Egypt and Australia in military rankings.

The issue here is not that Europe is vulnerable to Russia, it's that there is a renewed American mandate to cut spending on other people's wars and deterrents and they are wondering whether Europe should cough up more money. Mark Rutte licks Trump's anus and is making what he thinks are the right sounds. Fair enough. On the flipside European lawmakers are going to be wondering whether Donald will go back to keeping intelligence documents in his bathroom, whether US military bases in their countries are really worth it and whether they want much to do with the US at all as gets more and more nutty.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Other countries should be jumping at the opportunity to shed their american shackles.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago (2 children)

instead of war let's use critical weather as an analogy.

it's getting colder, and there's 16 extra feet of snow on the local mountain range than usual.

do you:

a) prepare for a long hard winter by increasing your grocery budget by 25%

b) do nothing because the snow is up there and you haven't seen more than 4 ft id snow in 45 years.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In your analogy it's like increasing your grocery budget by 25%, knowing that you already have more than enough groceries to see you through the winter and that extra 25% will rot before it gets used. Spending that extra money on groceries has also cost you the opportunity to buy a backup generator in case the snow knocks out your power supply as well as a new starter motor for your snowmobile.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

you do realized there's shelf stable food that can last years....right?

also, buying a generator or motor would also go towards your "defense budget" of your impending blizzard...

that means you either didn't understand the analog or you're arguing under the false pretense that Russia isn't a credible threat.

and although I tend to agree that Russia is not an advanced threat, even a broken old dog is able to bite you once so we should prepare for it at least.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago

instead of war let's use critical weather as an analogy

That's hard to agree with. War efforts are largely dependent on finite resources, of which the upstream comment argued that if Russia is struggling (and losing those finite resources for later use) in Ukraine, they're sure to have even less if they spread their efforts elsewhere.

Weather generally doesn't get "used up" the same way, so it would make more sense to be prepared for that theoretical unlimited supply of snow.

Do I think countries around Russia should be on alert? Yes. Do I think their position is weaker now than it was before they invaded Ukraine, which would continue further if they tried the same thing elsewhere? Also yes.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If you put aside the argument that Russia isn't capable of running over Ukraine, cities are still laid to waste, people are getting killed...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Why put that aside? It was the whole point of their invasion.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Wether or not Russia is capable of taking over Ukraine, lives are lost in Ukraine. That's a reason to be worried. You can laugh at Russia's failure to carry out the task they put before themselves, but in the end people are suffering.

The whole point of their operation wasn't to "not be capable to take over Ukraine", it was "(to be capable) to take over Ukraine".

I think you misunderstood me.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Agreed in part. We should absolutely continue to support Ukraine in any/all ways possible against Russia. However Russia doesn't have the economy to really do much to the rest of Europe. Rubles are going to be worth more as toilet paper than money in the next few years.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Because Russia doesn't exist in a vacuum. Also it is better to be prepared and not need it, rather than not be prepared and lose a large portion of the population, industry, potentially getting genocided away etc.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

does intelligence count as defense spending?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Ukraine is receiving a TON of military aid, a lot of which is about the cease.

Trump is Putin's pet, and the new US National Intelligence director is a Russian asset. Ukraine is about to be railroaded.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Cold wartime, maybe. For sure we're not at the "assess tolerable casualty percentage" stage of conflict yet, which is what that means to me.

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