On Thursday, 26 March 2026, at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Mark Rutte presented NATO’s 2025 Annual Report—an assessment that reflects both a shifting security landscape and an Alliance undergoing rapid transformation.
At the 2025 Summit in The Hague, Allies took a historic decision: to raise defence investment to 5% of GDP. The newly released figures suggest that commitment is already translating into tangible results. Compared to 2024, European Allies and Canada have increased defence spending by 20%, marking one of the most significant surges in decades.
“The figures in the report speak for themselves,” Rutte stated. “We have made significant progress on defence investment, and NATO is stronger today than it has ever been.”
For the first time since the benchmark was established in 2014, every Ally has met or exceeded the 2% of GDP defence spending target. The Secretary General praised this as a decisive response to a more demanding and unpredictable security environment.
“For too long, European Allies and Canada were over-reliant on US military might. We did not take enough responsibility for our own security. But there has been a real shift in mindset… And as a European, I am proud of what we are doing—the tremendous progress being made.”
Beyond financial commitments, the report highlights a series of operational milestones from what Rutte described as a historic year for the Alliance. Among them is the establishment of Baltic Sentry, designed to enhance the protection of critical undersea infrastructure, and Eastern Sentry, a reinforced posture aimed at strengthening deterrence along NATO’s eastern flank.
Taken together, the report paints a picture of an Alliance that is not only adapting, but accelerating—politically, militarily, and strategically—in response to the most serious security challenges in a generation.