NATO Secretary General panel remarks at European Defence Exhibition & Conference, 12 MAR 2026

Panel remarks by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the European Defence Exhibition & Conference (BEDEX 2026) in Brussels, 12 March 2026. Transcript: Cindy Dubois (Moderator) Gentlemen, thank you for being with us. As requested by you, we will feed this debate with questions from the audience. But before, first, let me start with a very short question. Secretary General, NATO’s deterrence now depends as much on industrial capacity as on military capacity. This room brings together leaders from across the world, from defence industrial companies. What are the key messages that you would like to give them and that you would like to share with them today? NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte Thank you so much for hosting and for organising this and before I answer the question, let me just say that I'm proud of what Belgium is doing under the leadership of Bart De Wever and Theo Francken. Indeed, ‘Belgium is back’ – in the money spent reaching the 2% last year, and now working on a credible path to the 3.5. This event shows that the defence industrial base in Belgium is strong, and that it is growing. And I think that's extremely important. We have seen a shadow fleet ship now, I think two weeks ago, Theo, when you basically made sure that that the ship was captured and brought to the port of Antwerp, Zeebrugge, it's there. And I think that was an extremely important thing, because the French started this debate: ‘how, as Europe, can we do more when it comes to the shadow fleets,’ which is such an important source of income. And then Belgium really following that, and now taking that leadership role is important. So yes, Belgium is back, taking a leadership role, and I think that's extremely important. To your question, what we need for the defence industry: please be ready. That means we need you to invest in your supply chain. Invest in extra shifts. Invest in extra factories. The demand is there. Tens, hundreds of billions of euros and dollars coming in extra, started basically last year, and that will ramp up over the coming years. So, for you as free market enterprises, there is a huge opportunity. So be ready. Secondly, work faster, because we need your output. You see how quickly we can go through our stockpiles. Look at the Middle East, look at Ukraine, and we have to replenish. We have to replenish with the latest innovation, the latest technologies, at speed. And three, work together. I'm really impressed also in this event, to see so many companies working in Belgium, but also from Belgium, with companies all over Europe, with the United States, big US companies investing in Belgium, in Europe. And I think it shows you that a transatlantic industrial base really underpins the Alliance, and it is an integral part. You are an integral part of our deterrence and defence. Money is one thing. The men and women in uniform are crucial, but without the equipment, they cannot fight. And our adversaries know that, so they need to know that we have a strong defence industrial base. So, thank you for what you are doing. Again, be ready, speed up when it comes to the base, and work together. Question How does strategic autonomy link into a growing dependency on other powers such as the US, for example? NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte I think it is about interdependency. We all need each other. Look at the American President Trump. He was hosting the five big US companies last Friday, and they agreed to quadruple their production because he is really driving in the US that defence industrial base. But all these companies, and some of them are here, like Lockheed Martin, RTX, these companies working cross-Atlantic. We have in Türkiye, about 3000 defence industrial companies who work across Europe and with the United States. We have Belgium. And Belgium has the convening power like this meeting, this huge event, BEDEX. But also, when it comes to its defence industrial base and its innovative power. So, it's all transatlantic. So, I think we have to be conscious of the fact, yes, when you invest in defence, it is important that it also returns to your own economy. Transcript continues: https://www.nato.int/en/news-and-even... ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ SUBSCRIBE to this channel https://bit.ly/NATOsubscribe SUBSCRIBE to NATO News https://bit.ly/NATONewsSubscribe SUBSCRIBE to NATO History https://bit.ly/NATOHistorySubscribe Connect with NATO online: Visit the Official NATO Homepage: https://bit.ly/NATOhomepage Receive NATO updates via email: https://bit.ly/NATOemails Find NATO on FACEBOOK: https://bit.ly/NATOfacebook Follow @NATO on X/TWITTER: https://bit.ly/NATOtwitter Follow NATO on Instagram: https://bit.ly/NATOinstagram Find NATO on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/NATOlinkedin Find NATO on Flickr: https://bit.ly/NATOflickr #NATO #OTAN