Rutte Commented On F-35 Deliveries With A Joke About Lada And A Refrigerator

A similar anecdote was told by Reagan.

Not only European countries but also the United States need to increase the pace of defense production, now they are insufficient, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said at a session of the alliance's Parliamentary Assembly in Ljubljana.

Rutte pointed to the high demand for the products of defense companies, both European and American, and expressed hope that they would stop demanding long-term contracts.

Talking about European countries' purchases of American F-35 fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems, the NATO secretary general said he sometimes "recalls the old Russian joke about Lada and the refrigerator." "A Lada seller says the car will be delivered in ten years. Is [the buyer's] reaction in the morning or in the afternoon? What's the difference? Well, the refrigerator will be delivered in the afternoon," Rutte joked.

The general secretary said the anecdote "is relevant in the context of F-35 or Patriot purchases."

A little differently, this anecdote was told by the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan:

"In the USSR, to buy a car, you have to stand in line for ten years. And then the buyer comes, makes a down payment, and the clerk says:

- That's it, come back for your car in ten years.

- In the morning or in the afternoon?

- It's in ten years, what's the difference?

- The plumber will come to me in the morning."

Rutte had already said last summer that the Patriot system ordered by any member of the alliance would be delivered only in ten years. "In the morning or in the afternoon? What's the difference? Because the F-35s will arrive in the afternoon. That is the current state of affairs," he lamented.

You can support the website Charter97.org

MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNT FOR ASSISTANCE:

Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims

You can contact us by the e-mail charter97@gmail.com