{UAH} NATO CHEIF ASKS EUROPEAN COUNTRIES TO MAKE SACRIFICES TO BOOST DEFENCE SPENDING ->Cut Welfare, Pension Health and Security

Friends

 

This is exactly what some of us have been raising all along, this is what created MAGA, you see lefties like Kamala Harris wanted to push society into failing to work. After you fail your middle class, you turn around and feed the weapon monster. Urban centers start to decay as Toronto has been going. Of late the premier of Ontario has started to change that, few days ago he started by starting a regulation of banning bicycle lanes from University avenue, Yonge and Bloor streets, now I think it was yesterday, he announced that he is going to start a legislation banning anybody from sleeping in a city park, for it is totally un acceptable. Now I know there are many Democrat mayors that are building up themselves to defend their people sleeping in city parks, but if United States stops to feed the monster of illegals, trust me the premier of Ontario can also clean up our parks for God's sake.

 

Here is a brand new one, NATO is sitting or it has just ended a sitting as of the week ends, in Brussels, and Mr. Mark Rutte argued to the NATO members to make an intelligent decision, and invest less in welfare of their countries, but more in defense. He continued that it is better for them to cut their people's pensions, their healthcare, and security, but boost their Defense spending. It reminds me the days I used to tell my dear friend Gook in this forum, that the days he spends on vacation I need to get them too, well they are catching up to Europe now, and now that Trump is coming back, you are going to pay for the weapons going into Ukraine. And they want you to cut on the money you spend on old people, what they eat, what doctor they see, and the security of their homes, and boost your defense spending. So don't think that Trump's coming back is going to stop the wars, those wars are going to continue, and America is going to manufacture the weapons, and you are going to pay for them at a cost of your own life standards.

 

Here is the piece below read it your selves as you play catch up to the MAGA group you used to call a bunch of idiots.

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NATO chief asks European citizens to 'make sacrifices' to boost defence spending

Copyright AP Photo/Virginia Mayo

By Alice Tidey & Paula Soler & video by Aïda Sanchez Alonso

Published on 12/14/2024 - 17:33 GMT+1•Updated 18:02

The 32 NATO allies are currently in discussion to increase the defence spending benchmark from the current 2% of GDP.

Citizens of NATO member states should "accept to make sacrifices" such as cuts to their pensions, health and security systems in order to boost defence spending and ensure long-term security in Europe, the head of the military alliance said on Thursday.

"Today I call for your support, action is urgent. To protect our freedom, our prosperity and our way of life, your politicians need to listen to your voices. Tell them you accept to make sacrifices today so that we can stay safe tomorrow," Mark Rutte said during a speech in Brussels.

"Tell them they need to spend more on defence so that we can continue to live in peace, tell them that security matters more than anything," he added.

The former Dutch prime minister called on the alliance to "shift to a wartime mindset" and" turbocharge" defence production and defence spending. He warned that the 2% of GDP most NATO allies spend on defence is not enough in the long term to deter potential adversaries.

"If we stick at 2%, yes we are safe now, but in four, five years we might not be safe anymore and the deterrence might be too weakened to keep ourselves safe from whatever happens in Russia and other parts of the world," he said.

The NATO secretary general admitted that while there were no imminent threats to the allies, the danger was moving "at full speed" towards the transatlantic alliance. "We are not at war, but certainly not at peace either," he said.   

Rutte, who spoke to an event organised by the Carnegie Europe think tank, appealed to citizens of NATO countries to tell their politicians they support an increase in defence spending even if it means "spending less on other priorities".

"On average, European countries easily spend up to a quarter of their national income on pensions, health and social security systems, we need a small fraction of that money to make our defence much stronger and to preserve our way of life. Prioritising defence requires political leadership. It can be tough and risky in the short term but it is absolutely essential in the long term."

"Don't forget that in Europe, we are 10% of the world population, we spend 50% of all spending in the world on social security. So, in that sense, we have some room, I think, for manoeuvre," he added.

A public debate on the issue is "crucial" and "fair", he went on, adding: "If then people would decide, well, we are not willing to do that, we do accept the risk, at least we have done that deliberately. I don't think it will be the outcome."

To unlock further cash for the defence sector, citizens of NATO countries, especially in Europe, should also tell their banks and pension funds that it is "simply unacceptable that they refuse to invest in defence industry", Rutte argued.

"Defence is not in the same category as illicit drugs and pornography. Investing in defence is an investment in security. It's a must."

NATO allies have been discussing raising the spending threshold, with a decision expected to be announced at a leaders' summit in The Hague in the summer of 2025.

With the Russian economy committed to spending around 7% or 8% of its GDP on defence by 2025 and the UK moving towards a benchmark of 2.5%, EU countries are also discussing how to step up joint efforts to boost defence capabilities after decades of underinvestment following the end of the Cold War.

Andrius Kubilius, the EU's newly-appointed defence commissioner, is proposing various options, ranging from issuing "defence bonds" to reallocating money earmarked for other EU programmes or repurposing unused funds.

The European Investment Bank has also recently changed its rules to provide an additional €6 billion for Europe's dual-use security and defence systems - but Kubilius said it is "wrong" to invest so little in defence compared to green financing.

"Next to €1 trillion (for green financing), you have only €6 billion for defence. This is something wrong, because in my view investing in defence is investing in peace," the commissioner said at an event in Brussels earlier this week.

Eight of NATO's current 32 members have not yet reached the 2% benchmark, including EU countries such as Italy, Belgium and Spain.