NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte tells whether there will be conscription in Europe

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that the decision to introduce compulsory conscription remains in the competence of individual European states. In an interview with The New York Times, he emphasised that he did not expect a unified approach on this issue at the level of the entire continent.

No, no, it will be up to individual countries to decide. Some, like Finland, are already using conscription. Others will not," Rutte said.

According to him, in the absence of mass conscription, it is important to ensure decent pay for professional soldiers.

At the same time, the NATO chief is most concerned not about the issue of mobilisation, but about the weakness of the Alliance's defence industry. He noted that the shortage of production capacity constrains NATO's ability to defend itself and respond to threats.

We simply don't have enough defence industrial base to produce the weapons we need. This affects the ability to deter Russia, North Korea and other potential adversaries. We are urgently working on this problem," Rutte added.

Rutte also said that Russia could attack Estonia in 5-7 years if the Alliance countries do not increase their defence investments.

Note that the countries with the largest armies in Europe right now are: Poland ~216,000 active troops, France ~204,000 active troops, with the total number of armed forces (including reservists and gendarmerie) may reach 270,000-333,000, Germany~185,000 active troops, with about 34,000 in reserve, Italy ~165,500 active troops, reserve - about 18,300, UK ~136,100 regular troops, reserve - about 108,400 just land forces, but including naval and air forces, the total armed forces is ~180,800.