Category: Intelligence

Mr Rutte noted that Sweden – NATO’s newest member – is “already making major contributions across the Alliance” since joining in March 2024, including through contributions to Forward Land Forces in Latvia, and leading NATO’s newly established Forward Land Forces in Finland.

“Your Gripen fighter jets help patrol the skies over Poland, and your ships contribute to our enhanced military presence in the Baltic Sea through Baltic Sentry,” he said. The Secretary General also highlighted how Sweden’s expertise in the High North strengthens NATO’s regional posture and reinforces the Alliance’s ability to support Baltic Allies. 

In 2024, Sweden invested 2.66% of GDP on defence, with plans to go further. “This is a clear demonstration of Sweden’s commitment to collective defence,” said the Secretary General.  Mr Rutte also underlined Sweden’s leadership in strengthening NATO’s defence industrial base. “You have a world-class defence sector,” he said. He welcomed Sweden’s role in defence industrial production, research, and resilience.

Secretary General Rutte also commended Sweden for its staunch support of Ukraine. “Since 2022, you have provided over 7 billion euros in military assistance – including 1.25 billion in the first four months of this year alone. In terms of GDP, this places Sweden among the top contributors to Ukraine.” He also welcomed Sweden’s investment in Ukraine’s defence industry, saying: “You are truly leading by example.”

Turning to the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague, the Secretary General highlighted the need for increased investment and stronger defence industrial capacity. “I expect leaders to make bold decisions to further strengthen our deterrence and defence – including agreeing a new defence investment plan that would bring our defence investment to 5% of GDP.”

In Stockholm, Secretary General Rutte also took part in a panel discussion at the annual Bilderberg meeting, alongside the President of the European Investment Bank Nadia Calviño and US Army General Chris Donahue. The discussion was moderated by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radoslaw Sikorski.

During the event, participants from across the NATO structures, as well as wargaming experts from the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the Netherlands, were able to test next-generation systems against traditional naval platforms such as frigates, corvettes, maritime patrol aircraft and submarines. The wargame was designed to measure and compare how emerging disruptive technologies perform, with findings directly supporting NATO’s Task Force X and enhancing the Alliance’s overall defensive posture.

NATO’s Digital Ocean Vision initiative aims to enhance NATO’s maritime situational awareness from seabed to space, by strengthening coordination between national and Allied capabilities employed for maritime surveillance. It includes a broad range of assets from satellites to autonomous systems below, on, and above the sea.

The Secretary General’s visit came one week after the unveiling of the United Kingdom’s Strategic Defence Review, marking a shift toward warfighting readiness and a ‘NATO first’ defence policy spurred by innovation.

The factory in Sheffield is a key catalyst for British plans to make their defence industry a driver for growth. There, the Secretary General met members of staff, including apprentices, whose specialist skills are contributing to the manufacture of nuclear-grade steel components for Royal Navy submarines.

Later, in London, Mr Rutte met Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street to discuss increasing defence investment and production as well as continued support for Ukraine. Speaking at Chatham House shortly afterwards, Mr Rutte thanked the UK for “more than seven decades of continuous commitment to NATO” and outlined his priorities for the upcoming NATO Summit.

“This Summit will transform our Alliance,” Mr Rutte stated. “We will build a better NATO, one that is stronger, fairer and more lethal. So that we can continue to keep our people safe and our adversaries at bay.”

He continued with a call to action. “The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defence. The fact is, we must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defence plans in full. The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends.”

The Secretary General stressed that major new investment was needed Alliance-wide and urged a 400% increase in air and missile defence alongside the doubling of NATO’s enabling capabilities including logistics, supply, transportation, and medical support. “We all benefit from the protection our transatlantic Alliance provides and it is vital that every member of NATO pulls their weight” he added.

To streamline the growing number of applications for Multi-Year Projects (MYPs), the SPS Programme has introduced a new two-phase application process applicable to the recently opened call for proposals.

In phase one, applicants are invited to submit a short-form proposal, which will be evaluated by the SPS Office and the Independent Scientific Evaluation Group (ISEG). Only applicants whose proposals have been recommended for further development by the ISEG will be invited to participate in phase two of the application process by submitting a full proposal for second evaluation. Once submitted, phase two proposals will be evaluated and those recommended for award by the ISEG will be shared with Allies for final approval.

The application process for Events has not changed.

The simplified proposal in phase one will allow applicants to present their innovative ideas with fewer administrative requirements during the initial step, while those invited to participate in phase two will benefit from increased engagement with the SPS Programme during the further development of their research proposal. The new two-phase application process for MYPs will provide more opportunities for engagement with applicants early in the process, leading to higher-quality research proposals, clear relevance to SPS priorities, and the improved likelihood of successful and applicable outcomes.
 

The decision to open the Office, which will be the Alliance’s first diplomatic office in the Middle East, was announced in July 2024 at the NATO Summit in Washington D.C. It builds on three decades of deep-rooted bilateral relations between NATO and Jordan, and on the recent decisions taken by Allied leaders to strengthen NATO’s approach towards the southern neighbourhood. This includes increasing presence and visibility in the region in the framework of the Southern Neighbourhood Action Plan.

The NATO Liaison Office will bring NATO and Jordan even closer together, enhancing political dialogue, practical cooperation and shared understanding of the regional context. It will also contribute to the development and implementation of partnership programmes and activities, particularly in support of Jordan’s Defence Capacity Building (DCB) Initiative, among other projects.

The signature of the agreement will be followed by the upcoming opening of the NLO in Amman. This builds on a year of significant accomplishments in the NATO-Jordan partnership, including Special Representative Colomina’s visit to Amman last November, and last week’s visit of the Partnerships and Cooperative Security Committee to Jordan.

In a session titled “Transatlantic Defence: Who Pays? Who Acts?,” moderated by Claudia Major, Senior Vice President of the GMF, the Deputy Secretary General emphasised that European and US defence efforts must remain transatlantic and complementary. In addition, Ms Shekerinska highlighted that European Allies and Canada are “taking more responsibility and this will make the Alliance a more formidable military partnership.”

She outlined that the upcoming Summit in the Hague will create the grounds for a stronger, better, fairer and even more lethal NATO.

The Brussels Forum is an annual event organised by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States. The Deputy Secretary General participated in an on-stage conversation with other panellists, including  Andrius Kubilius, Commissioner for Defence and Space at the European Commission, Maria Malmer Stenergard, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Nadia Calviño, President of the European Investment Bank.
 

For the first time as Chair of COMEDS, Brigadier General Petter Iversen (Norway) welcomed participants, underscoring the importance of this meeting as a turning point for the medical community: “Over the past months, we have elevated the profile of the medical support domain across the Alliance. Now we must demonstrate that COMEDS is not only visible, but also influential and impactful.”

In his keynote address, Major General Luc Vanbockryck, Director of the NATO International Military Staff’s Logistics & Resources Division, echoed this call for transformation, highlighting that: “Civilian plans for energy, transport, communications, and medical support must connect seamlessly to our regional defence plans, so that a shock to one sector does not paralyse the rest. Logistics and medicine share one purpose: safeguarding people so that strategy can succeed.”

A core focus of the 63rd Plenary was the implementation of the NATO Medical Action Plan (MAP), with a special session dedicated to COMEDS restructure, in order to best align the Committee with the scope of the MAP and COMEDS’ core mission.

Additionally, like previous plenary’s, a session was dedicated to Ukraine, where views, lessons identified and best practices on military medical capabilities were exchanged.

COMEDS remains NATO’s highest military medical authority, providing strategic advice to the Military Committee and helping ensure the Alliance is medically prepared for today’s threats and tomorrow’s challenges. The 63rd Plenary reaffirmed COMEDS’ role as a driver of readiness and a critical enabler of NATO’s collective defence posture.