Speech

Well thank you, Matt, Ambassador - as we are a bit formal here in this building - dear Matt, good to be here, and good to see so many from the industry and so many industrialists from US companies, also Belgian companies I believe are here in the room. I see many faces I start to recognise now after some time in this role. So, really delighted to see you here and thank you for having me. I understand many of you have been in Munich on Monday, in The Hague yesterday - my hometown - and tomorrow I understand - we were just discussing this in the back of the room - you will head off to Luxembourg. So, I hope it is a fantastic trip. I also hope it is a productive visit and I have no doubt that this trip will help to basically demonstrate the connectivity of our industrial base on both sides of the Atlantic. And also put, let's say, transatlantic defence corporation in action and to see it in action, and that's exactly what we need in these more dangerous and competitive times.

We need your companies to thrive and produce more, basically more of everything that is required to keep our people safe, from fighter jets and tanks, to drones, counter drone systems, space capabilities, and more. Basically you know this, and that's what you're working on. And here, I welcome the US administration and in particular Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to invest in companies within the US defence industrial base, to enhance their capacity to produce and also to enhance their capacity to grow. I think this is essential because speeding up production is basically essential. We also need you to keep, of course, innovating and integrating creative technologies in the capabilities you produce. They have to be state of the art. I know you are doing this.

And, of course, this is not something one country can do alone. This has to be a team effort, not even the US can do it on its own, so we need to do it collectively, of course, the US being by far the biggest economy in NATO and by far the biggest industrial base in NATO. I think that's also the beauty of NATO, it is 32 countries working together, Canada, US and 30 here in Europe on our shared defence and our shared security. We can bring together the industries, we can be, let's say, they have the convening power, the platform, bringing together the industries, the assets, the expertise across our nations to deliver the results, so that we can, in the end, to again quote Pete Hegseth, outgun and outcompete our adversaries and competitors. And that's in the end how we keep our 1 billion people safe, 350 million in the US and the other 650 million from the other 31 nations - we have to keep them all safe.

For this we need money. So, at the NATO Summit in The Hague, we agreed to have a huge increase in defence spending. Allies agreed to commit 5% of their GDPs to defence. I think that was a defining moment in our transatlantic Alliance, probably the biggest moment since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, when it comes to the future of the Alliance. And we are already seeing, and this is the good news, staggering increases in defence spending all over Europe and in Canada. But of course, there's much more to do. We do this because we need the money to reach our capabilities. We also do it because it is fair that the Europeans and Canada pay the same as the Americans are paying. This is an old debate, basically since Eisenhower, and finally we have solved it. So, cash is crucial. But next month's Summit in Ankara will not only be about cash, it has to be about the combat ready capabilities and significantly scaling-up our defence industries, and that's why we will in Ankara commit to further strengthening the transatlantic industrial base. I expect Allies to show tangible progress in delivering the firepower, the steel, and the technologies we need for our collective defence, and also I expect them to come with big deliverables. We have on the 7th of July, we have this big industry forum. Now, we just had a meeting on it. It's really looking good, and we need it because Putin will not like it, and that's exactly what I like.

So, we don't need generic intentions, we need really concrete agreements, we need contracts. It's a must. It's urgent because the dangers we face are real, and of course we all know this, and this is the reality. We know that Russia is at this moment investing 40% of its budget in defence, 40% of what every dollar or euro, whatever you call it, they spend as a country, from the national state budget. 40%, four zero per cent, to spend on defence, and that means 10% of the GDP. Moscow is churning out military equipment around the clock, all guns blazing. They're really on a war economy. It's a bit like the US in the Second World War under Roosevelt, it's a bit now Russia at the moment. So, the whole industrial base is producing for the war effort.

At the same time, we also know that China continues to modernise its forces and to expand its nuclear capabilities without any transparency. They will have 1000 nuclear warheads by 2030 and it is also investing massively in military technology, China is massively investing in innovation. Then Iran, of course, has long posed a threat with its nuclear and its ballistic missile programme, and, of course, at the moment we see them trying to hold the global economy hostage by closing the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, the United States trying to really definitely degrade the nuclear and the long-range capability of the Iranians, and I think the whole world will be safer for this. Besides, these countries - China, Russia, Iran- are working together with North Korea, by the way also, increasing their defence and industrial production with the aim to disrupt and to harm us, and we cannot, and we will not let this happen. In Ankara next month, our main audience is Russia. We will show Russia and all those watching that NATO's defence industrial base is mobilising with purpose, and at the same time, we will show our Ukrainian friends that our support is durable and that we are producing what they need to keep defending themselves.

We will also show our own people that we are ready and capable to protect them anywhere and at any time. And we will show you, the industry representatives, that NATO is serious about production. When you , all of you, produce more, our deterrence and defence posture is stronger, and we are all safer. But to be stronger, and to be the strongest, we have to make use of this biggest asset of NATO, which is the fact that we are transatlantic, because this is what NATO is about, not only for historical reasons, but this is the strength. You need therefore, my request, to produce and innovate together across Europe, Canada, and, of course, the United States. Yes, we absolutely need a stronger and more capable European defence with a re-energized European defence industry. Europe is stepping up not only in money, it's taking on a greater responsibility for its own security. It will lead all the battle commands in the next couple of years, will be over, it will be led by European senior generals and admirals, and that's exactly right. And as a European, I take great pride in it. So, over time you will see a NATO which is more European-led than it is at the moment but continued US presence and power will be essential - not only nuclear, but also when it comes to the conventional.

We all need state of the art capabilities. We need to use high-end technologies that only the US can currently produce at scale and quality. The bottom line is that our defence - this is my absolute conviction - is strongest when we combine the ideas, when we combine the assets, the industries we have across the Alliance on both sides of the Atlantic. We need to tap more into the incredible pool of transatlantic talent that we have. Besides, when our industries, from Alaska to Ankara, combine their strengths and step-up supply is not only good for our security, it will also be good for business, it will be good for our economies, it will create more jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. It is what we call the defence dividend and we all stand to gain from it. So, basically the question is, what are we waiting for? And I can tell you, as a politician, politicians love new jobs, and it helps with the voters.

So, here's the story. Many of you in this room are companies already with a transatlantic bond and ways of transatlantic cooperation, and you know the benefits that come with it. To give just a few examples, in September this year, RTX and MBDA will open the first facility in Europe to manufacture Patriot missiles; and the European defence company MSM Group is constructing a cutting-edge production line for artillery ammunition in the United States, in Iowa. Starting in 2029, the facility will produce nearly half a million rounds per year, and that Matt is another reason why you are so proud of your home state, which I believe is Iowa. All this is progress on both sides of the Atlantic, and we need more of it and I count on you to make it happen. It's a good business deal. We love the word "deal" with this President. This is a deal. It is a good business deal for all of us, and it makes us safe, and it keeps Ukrainians strong. So, this is my message.