Rutte Demands NATO Members Ramp Defense Spending to 5%—Wall Street Already Pricing in the War Bonds

NATO’s coffers might finally get the adrenaline shot they’ve been begging for. Dutch PM Mark Rutte—fresh off his crypto-friendly legacy—just threw down the gauntlet: Alliance members must hit the 5% defense spending threshold. No more half-measures.

Defense stocks? Probably mooning. Sovereign debt markets? Prepping for another round of ’creative’ austerity measures. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin’s boardroom pops champagne like it’s a Bitcoin ATH party.

Funny how geopolitical instability always magically aligns with military-industrial profit targets. Just saying.

Some leaders say it’s tough to deliver on Trump’s demands

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told CNBC that hitting 5% “is difficult” for most members. “If we’re talking about hard defense spending, I think 3.5% is probably the ceiling,” he said in an interview aired Friday.

Mitsotakis added that 5% might be possible in the long run if wider costs, such as critical infrastructure, were counted. “It really depends on how we do the accounting,” he noted.

Poland has pledged to lift its military budget to as much as 5%. Other governments are more cautious, warning the sums could strain public finances.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also signaled support. The outcome of Rutte’s push, he said, was “indeed the 5% demanded by President TRUMP … and we are following him in this respect.”

Mitsotakis agreed that Trump had a point. “Donald Trump was right when in 2017 he said you’re not doing your fair share, because we didn’t,” the Greek leader said. “We understand now that there is no free lunch and we cannot free ride.”

Greece already spends about 3.1% of GDP on defense, NATO estimates show. Athens has been above 2% for many years and began climbing higher in 2020 as tensions with Turkey flared over maritime borders and other disputes.

“We spend more than 3% for specific reasons, and we were also advocating very much for a change in European rules to encourage us to be able to spend more,” Mitsotakis said, noting some progress on easing those limits.

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