NATO SECRETARY GENERAL ADDRESSED THE CU AUDITORIUM
Bratislava, 21 February, 2025: Yesterday, the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Mark Rutte visited Comenius University Bratislava (CU) during his first visit to Slovakia since taking office. He gave an address in the Comenius University Auditorium and held a discussion with Comenius University students.
Mark Rutte was welcomed to Comenius University by Rector Marek Števček. In his opening remarks, Vice-Rector for External Relations Radomír Masaryk took a journey to Slovakia's past, when its citizens lived behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War and schoolchildren were taken on excursions to the strictly guarded border. He mentioned the security conference that took place recently in Munich, a city that has a lot of symbolism in our history. "We are lucky today to have a special guest in our Grand Auditorium who was as much of an insider to these talks as one could be. We are all really eager to hear his remarks about the future of the world, the future of NATO, and the future of Europe. And maybe we will get some hope that those elementary schools field trips to the iron curtain will remain a thing of the past," said Vice-Rector Masaryk at the beginning.
Mark Rutte then gave an address titled ‘Building stronger defences: The path to securing our future’. In its opening, he mentioned John Amos Comenius, who lived in exile in Mr Rutte’s native Netherlands for many years, and is still remembered there today. „Comenius believed in universal education and that education for all could promote peace and unity among people and nations. Eventually, he himself was forced from Moravia into exile because of conflict, the brutal Thirty Years' War."
Mr Rutte emphasised that NATO's main goal was to prevent wars and to attempt to halt fighting where it was already taking place. "Preventing war is what we work for every day in NATO. While NATO has got us through the Cold War, we have a hot war raging just next door. We all want the fighting in Ukraine to stop as soon as possible, and that we have a lasting peace, a durable peace."
According to him, the current path to ensuring peace and security in Europe is to increase defence spending by NATO member states and invest in defence industry capacities. He called for a significant increase in NATO defence spending, beyond three percent of GDP. "In a more volatile and dangerous world, we must invest more in our own security. We must do so to prevent conflict and protect our way of life. We need to substantially increase spending on our collective defence. We all need to do this to deter anyone from even thinking about attacking us. To make sure no-one ever attempts to occupy a single square kilometre of Ukraine or any NATO member," Mr Rutte emphasized.
After his address, students were given the opportunity to ask questions. They inquired about the current political and security situation in the world and in Europe, NATO's position on its eastward expansion, the situation in the southern wing of the Alliance in relation to Syria and the Middle East, but also about NATO's position on countries that do not share its position on increasing defence spending. He emphasised that Slovakia was among the countries that meet their obligations arising from their membership in the Alliance. "Slovakia is one of the most integrated countries, like the Netherlands. You're a member of the EU, Schengen, the Eurozone, NATO. You are actively participating in all those formats and structures, and that is highly respected".
International students at CU were also among the participants. Mark Rutte, who was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands for 14 years, was greeted in his native language by a Dutch student who is on an exchange stay from the University of Utrecht.
Several students from Ukraine were interested in NATO's stance on the war in their home country. "I wish for this war to end as soon as possible. I hope for your country to be integrated in Euro-Atlantic structures like the EU and NATO and I hope that you will rebuild your country," was the message that the NATO Secretary General gave them.
At the end of the discussion, Mark Rutte told the assembly of young people to act without fear and to take risks from time to time. "I've always lived my life by the assumption that it is easier to ask for forgiveness afterwards than for permission up front. So, take some risks! And when you have strong ideas, follow them. Even if you have many seniors telling you that you can't, because potentially you might be right and if not, at least you learn something."
Rector Marek Števček also commented on Mark Rutte's visit at Comenius University: "I am very pleased that a representative of such an important institution chose our university to meet with young people. I was also pleased that our students, including those from abroad, showed such great interest in this meeting and actively joined the discussion. This means that young people are interested in the world they live in and are not indifferent to their future. We may have different views on the geopolitical situation, but the opportunity to listen to the highest NATO official and ask him direct questions is important in forming one's own opinions." The discussion was open to the entire academic community of Comenius University, but due to enormous interest, the auditorium was filled to capacity just a few dozen minutes after registration started.
At the end of the visit, the NATO Secretary General signed CU's commemorative book and took a photo with the audience.