Rutte again attacks Spain and also Portugal for downplaying the threat from Russia and Lisbon responds harshly: "It is regrettable"

Mark Rutte has once again attacked Spain, and this time also Portugal, for downplaying the threat posed by Russia to the entire EU and NATO. And the Secretary General's criticism has had a forceful response from the Portuguese Government, which has described the attitude of the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands as "regrettable."

The clash began when Rutte, speaking on a Dutch television programme, said: "I say this from time to time to our allies in Spain or Portugal, who say: 'Well, after all, it is a little further away. And what is happening in Russia affects Poland above all.' The most modern Russian missiles take only five minutes longer to reach Lisbon than to reach Warsaw. Therefore, this affects us all and we cannot be naive about it. We have to protect ourselves against it."

This is something that Rutte already pointed out in the past about the capital of Spain, when in September 2025 he stated that "the latest Russian missiles, when they were launched, descended to five times the speed of sound, and take only five or 10 minutes longer to reach Madrid or London than they take to reach Tallinn or Vilnius." More than a year later, the Secretary General makes the same criticism and once again fuels the differences between the leadership of NATO and one of its allies.

For now, there has been no response from Spain, but Portugal has. And very bluntly. "NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte should know that he cannot ignore the countries and governments that firmly support Ukraine and that fully understand the threat posed by Russia," the Portuguese Government published yesterday afternoon on its social network X account.