🔸 Rutte after the Ankara meeting: NATO is stronger than ever

Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary general, after the end of the summit of the leaders of this alliance in Ankara, assessed the meeting as successful and said that NATO today is stronger than at any other time.

At a final press conference, he emphasized that the leaders of the member countries once again demonstrated their commitment to the principle of collective defense in Article 5 of the NATO treaty; a principle under which an attack on one member is considered an attack on all members.

Rutte said one sign of the success of the summit was the allies’ renewed emphasis on their commitment to Article 5 of the NATO treaty.

He added that if a threat arises, NATO members will stand together and defend their shared territory.

In response to criticism by Trump about the division of defense burdens within this alliance, the NATO secretary general said that the heads of state agreed to renovate NATO for the future and take it forward in a new framework.

According to him, this means a stronger Europe within a stronger NATO—an alliance in which European countries and Canada, alongside the United States, take on more responsibility for collective defense.