Europe must boost military spending, warns Pete Hegseth

In 2025, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called on the alliance's 32 member nations to increase their military budget, citing the need for better defense against global threats. This plea for heightened contributions comes in response to the United States shifting its security priorities to focus more on its own borders and threats in Asia. Alongside this, the Pentagon's Pete Hegseth announced that the era where the U.S. guarantees Europe’s security alone has ended, emphasizing that European nations need to take greater responsibility for their military funding. He highlighted that the existing NATO goal of spending 2% of GDP on defense is inadequate against current threats. As part of this shift, commitments have been gained from countries like Poland and the Baltic states to spend 5% of their GDP on defense. The European Union is also planning significant investment in military capabilities amid rising tensions with Russia, although Moscow has denied aggressive intentions toward NATO nations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that Europe’s follow-through on the U.S.'s directives to support Ukraine has left it vulnerable economically, facing challenges such as deindustrialization. With NATO’s longstanding dynamics in flux, it is evident that European nations must step forward to ensure their own security and military readiness for the future.