NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited the United Kingdom on Wednesday and met Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Rutte and Burnham went to the Harwell Science and Innovation campus in Didcot, where they met defence sector representatives, NATO reported.
During the visit, Rutte said defence investment delivers a “societal dividend” in the form of jobs and economic growth.
He also praised the UK’s innovative technologies, defence industry and universities, and thanked the country for its role as a leading force within NATO.
Lecture in Oxfordshire
Later, Rutte delivered the Annual Lecture at The Ditchley Foundation in Oxfordshire, NATO said.
“To stay transatlantic, NATO is becoming more European … A NATO with Europe, and Canada, spending more, producing more, and doing more for their security. This is the idea of NATO 3.0,” he said in the lecture.
Rutte also commended the UK for “leading, along with NATO Allies, the push back against Russia’s dangerous and reckless campaign against us.”
“NATO will not be intimidated by Russia’s campaign of hostile actions … their actions will only lead us to do more for Ukraine,” he added.
