NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned members of the transatlantic alliance on Thursday that they could be Russia’s next target.
Rutte, delivering a keynote speech at the Bavarian State Representation, organized by the Munich Security Conference in Germany, evoked the night the Berlin Wall fell as a reminder of the power of unity.
“The dark forces of oppression are on the rise again. I am here today to tell you where NATO stands and what we must do to stop a war before it starts. And to do that we must be crystal clear about the threat. We are Russia’s next target. And we are already in danger,” he said.
NATO members pledged in June to increase defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product by 2035, responding to calls from President Donald Trump to take more steps to boost the country’s security.
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NATO leaders in June. (Reuters/Claudia Greco)
Rutte told those gathered that the move was not a moment for self-congratulations as Russia continues its large-scale drone and missile attacks on Ukraine.
“I worry that too many people are quietly complacent. Too many don’t feel the urgency. And too many people believe that time is on our side. That’s not the case. The time for action is now,” he said.
The NATO chief urged allies to boost defense spending and production, saying their armed forces must have the resources needed to protect their homelands, and warned that Moscow could be prepared to use military force against NATO within five years.
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A Polish Army soldier sits in a tank as a NATO flag flies behind him during the NATO Noble Jump VJTF exercises on June 18, 2015 in Zagan, Poland. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
“We must all accept that we must act now to defend our way of life. Because this year Russia has become even more brutal, reckless and ruthless towards NATO and towards Ukraine,” Rutte added. ‘During the Cold War, President Reagan warned of the aggressive impulses of an evil empire. Nowadays, President Putin is busy building an empire again.’
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Poland accused Russia of being responsible a railway explosion on the Warsaw-Lublin line in November.
A Koleje Mazowieckie train stands on the track with police tape nearby as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk visits the site of an explosion on the Warsaw-Lublin line in Mika, Poland, November 17, 2025. (KPRM/Handout via REUTERS)
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Prime Minister Donald Tusk said investigations into the incident revealed that Russian secret services “ordered the explosion of the Polish railway and recruited two Ukrainians for it.”
The railway explosion was the latest in a series of security incidents in Eastern Europe, following airspace raids in September in which Russian drones entered Poland and three MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonia before being intercepted by NATO aircraft.
