NATO Secretary General Believes That Young People Are Ready To Defend Europe With Weapons In Their Hands

• 21.12.2025, 17:40

Europeans are ready to stand up for themselves.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reacted to the protests of young people in Germany against military service reform.

He said this in an interview with Bild.

The journalists drew Rutte's attention to the protests of German youth against conscription and asked how to motivate the new generation to defend their country.

"There is a lot of discussion around this issue. But when I look at Germany - as well as my own country, the Netherlands - I see a clear majority who recognize the threat and the need to defend their country," Rutte replied.

"I have no doubt: when the situation becomes really serious, young people will be ready to take up arms. Putin has 140 million inhabitants. NATO countries together have about one billion. Now we are stronger than Russia on all sides," he added.