Hello and welcome to this live blog. Here we will keep you informed of the developments surrounding the NATO summit in The Hague. Questions? Email them to [email protected] and maybe we’ll answer them in this blog.
World leaders gather at NATO summit in The Hague
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The Netherlands can easily pay the higher NATO standard according to Rutte: ‘We are very rich!’
Queen Máxima out and about today with partners of government leaders While the government leaders are busy meeting today, their partners do not have to be bored. They have an outing with Queen Máxima. The Queen will take them to Rotterdam, among other places. For security reasons, the rest of the program has not been announced. It is also not known whether all partners will be attending.
Rutte: ‘Trump fully committed to Article 5 of NATO’According to Rutte, US President Donald Trump is “fully committed” to Article 5 of NATO. That article states that an attack on one member state is an attack on all member states. Trump had cast doubt on this on Tuesday on his way to the Netherlands. He said that Article 5 can be interpreted in several ways.
Schoof hopes for a historic day for rearmamentAnd there is also outgoing Prime Minister Dick Schoof. “We want to achieve two things today. We must radiate unity and jointly decide on higher defense spending and ensure that we increase our production.”
Schoof also thanks all the volunteers who make the NATO summit possible.
Rutte arrives (together with one of his spokespersons) at the World Forum for the NATO summit.
Rutte arrived at the NATO summitSecretary-General Rutte has just arrived at the World Forum. He briefly speaks to the press. The most important item on the agenda today is the increase in the NATO standard. According to him, countries must spend much more on defense. The defense industry, which is still producing too little, is also on the agenda. Furthermore, the government leaders will discuss Ukraine. “Ukraine must be able to continue to count on NATO support,” says Rutte.
NU.nl reporter Edo van der Goot is at the World Forum, where government leaders are expected from 8:00 AM.
Ukraine seemed to be the most important security issue in the run-up to the NATO summit for a long time. But the escalation between Iran and Israel and American interference in that conflict are pushing Russian aggression into the background. NATO chief Mark Rutte is doing everything he can to prevent that. Read here more.
This was on the menu last nightYesterday afternoon, the Government Information Service did not want to reveal anything about the menu at the royal dinner, but now we know what was served at Palace Huis ten Bosch:
With the different courses, guests could enjoy a chardonnay, a merlot-cabernet sauvignon and a glass of champagne. It is not known what vegetarian or vegan guests were served.
Again quiet on roads in the The Hague regionIt is also quiet on the roads in the The Hague region this morning. A spokesperson for the ANWB reports that, as in recent days, there are no noteworthy issues on the roads in this region around 6:45 AM.
The ANWB thinks that many people are choosing to work from home again. “We saw that in recent days and it is also the expectation for today.” The spokesperson notes that there is less traffic on the road in the region. “There are far fewer traffic jams than normal.”
Top today focuses on hard-fought new NATO standardToday is all about the showpiece of the NATO summit: the increase of the defense standard from 2 to 5 percent. That should be the most important outcome of the two-day summit. Although it will still be officially discussed, in practice only some wrinkles will be ironed out this afternoon. In principle, the member states have already agreed to the increase.
That did not go without a fight. Spain in particular was outraged by the new, ‘unachievable’ NATO standard, which was proposed by Rutte under pressure from the United States. In order to keep spoiler Spain on board, Rutte changed the draft text of the final declaration. Read in this article more about that diplomatic trick.
The 5 percent standard is likely to be split into two categories: member states must spend 3.5 percent of their GDP on hard, ‘traditional’ defense spending. The remaining 1.5 percent can be invested in supporting matters such as infrastructure or cybersecurity.
Yesterday, train traffic to and from Schiphol Airport was disrupted all day. The police are taking into account a crime and are investigating whether the power outage is related to the NATO summit in The Hague. The damage has now been repaired and train traffic is back on track. Read here more.
A somewhat striking moment of the first NATO day revolved around this: Trump published a message he had received from Rutte. In it he was showered with compliments, including for his involvement in the Middle East.
Rutte reacted fairly nonchalantly: according to him, the tone of the message was “justified”. But releasing the message was “not planned”.
Rutte and King Willem-Alexander addressed the world leaders last night during a dinner at Palace Huis ten Bosch. “This is a historic summit at a crucial moment,” said Rutte. Willem-Alexander hopes that future historians will consider the summit a milestone, “where we made groundbreaking decisions and together took responsibility for preserving peace, freedom and the rule of law.”
Read the full texts back here.
It is important for world leaders to reach concrete agreements on increasing defense spending. According to NATO chief Rutte, this is a formality and he has all member states on board.
Good morning and welcome to this live blog. World leaders are expected in The Hague from 8:30 AM. A welcome ceremony will begin there at 10:00 AM, followed by a broad NATO meeting scheduled for 10:30 AM. Rutte will give a press conference after the meeting.
Here you can read the full first day back.