Washington: NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said that Europe lacks the capacity to defend itself without US military backing and would need to increase defense spending dramatically to stand on its own. Speaking to EU lawmakers in Brussels, Rutte dismissed the idea of European self-sufficiency in security, stressing that Europe and the United States “need each other."
“If anyone thinks here … that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming. You can’t," Rutte said, news agency AP reported.
His comments come amid growing strains within the alliance, fueled in part by US President Donald Trump’s recent threats to acquire Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO member Denmark. Trump also warned of new tariffs against Greenland’s European supporters, though he later dropped his threats after a loosely defined “framework" agreement on the resource-rich island was reached with Rutte’s involvement.
Rutte said a self-reliant Europe would need to spend closer to 10 per cent of GDP and develop its own nuclear deterrent at enormous cost.
While France has pushed for greater European “strategic autonomy," Rutte cautioned that without Washington, Europe "would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella. So, hey, good luck!"
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