If anyone thinks Europe can defend itself without U.S., keep dreaming, Rutte says
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte believes that Europe as a whole is unable to defend itself against potential threats without the help of the United States.
He said this at a session of the European Parliament, Censor.NET reports.
The role of the United States in NATO
Rutte praised U.S. President Donald Trump, stressing that he is doing "a lot of good," including achieving an increase in NATO members’ defense spending to 5%:
"So when President Trump does good things, I will praise him…: And if anyone here again thinks that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the United States — keep dreaming. You cannot. We cannot. We need each other.
And why do we need each other? I will tell you. First of all, because the United States also needs NATO. The United States is in NATO not only to prevent the mistake made after World War I — failing to reengage with Europe," the NATO Secretary General explained.
Europe’s defense and Greenland
Rutte noted that if Europe intends to take care of its own security independently, it would need to raise defense spending to 10% and invest billions of euros in creating its own nuclear arsenal.
- He also said that he and Trump had agreed on two "working tracks" to reduce tensions over Greenland: increased NATO responsibility for Arctic defense and trilateral talks between the United States, Denmark and Greenland.
"They are also in NATO because for U.S. security, and, by the way, the Arctic region is proof of this, they need a secure Arctic, they need a secure Euro-Atlantic space, and they also need a secure Europe. So the United States has the same interest in NATO as Canada and European NATO allies," the Secretary General added.
