NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, meets with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.
NATO’s secretary general aligns with Trump and aims his weapons at China and Russia. France, once again, does not let itself be left behind.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said this Monday that Europe cannot defend itself without the United States. Before MEPs from the European Parliament’s Defense and Foreign Affairs committees, Rutte was ‘short and blunt’.
“If anyone thinks that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the USA, let them continue to dream. It cannot.” For the NATO leader, the idea of a “European pillar” within the alliance is, in practice, “an empty word” if it is understood as an alternative to North American involvement.
Rutte criticized the hypothesis of creating one, arguing that it would represent “a lot of duplication” compared to the structures already existing in NATO. And he added that an autonomous European force would be, from a strategic point of view, advantageous for Moscow: “Putin would love it”he stated.
France, once again, responded quickly and sharply through the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“No, my dear Mark Rutte. Europeans can and must take responsibility for their own security. Even the United States agrees. This is the European pillar of NATO”, said Jean-Noël Barrot, quoted by .
Muriel Domenach, former French ambassador to NATO, also wrote in X: “with all due respect to the Secretary General of NATO, The question is not whether Europe can, but whether and how it should deter any attack and defend itself if necessary. Brandishing European weakness to ensure US protection is an outdated strategy and sends the wrong message to Russia.”
And the USA “needs NATO”
The secretary-general’s statements come at a time when the transatlantic relationship is once again being scrutinized, after weeks of statements by Trump suggesting that the US could “take over” Greenland, including the possibility of the use of force — which has since been ruled out — and threats of new tariffs against European countries — also, however, withdrawn.
Trump instead advanced a “fantastic” pre-agreement that he said would give the US greater control over the island, the details of which are not known. But he will have assigned Rutte a role in brokering this understanding.
The secretary-general acknowledged having been involved, but stressed that he had no “mandate to negotiate” on behalf of Denmark and rejected that the Greenland talks were linked to US security guarantees for Ukraine.
“What came out of Wednesday’s meeting [em Davos, no Fórum Económico Mundial] There are at least two issues that need to be addressed. The first is Russia. The second is China. How to prevent these two countries from gaining access to the Arctic, whether in military or economic terms”, said Mark Rutte in a hearing at the European Parliament, where he also sought to reinforce the message that Washington remains committed to NATO’s principle of collective defense.
“The US has a total commitment” to the alliance, he said, adding that “the USA needs NATO”.
The former Dutch prime minister also credited Trump for accelerating the increase in military spending among the allies, pointing out that, last year, all NATO countries will have reached the target of 2% of GDP in defense. “Do you really think that Spain, Italy, Belgium and Canada would have gone from 1.5% to 2% without Trump? Not at all,” he declared.
Following the argument that a “solo” European defense strategy would be financially unaffordable, referring to the allies’ commitment to increase defense investment to 5% of GDP by 2035, he stated that, without the USA, “it’s not enough”: to replace North American capabilities, including the nuclear deterrent, Europe would have to spend “10%” of GDP, in an effort that would involve “billions and billions of euros”.
The intervention also included a direct appeal to the European Union to allow Ukraine to use part of the new loan of 90 billion of euros to buy weapons from the United States. The European Commission’s proposal, published this month, foresees that two thirds of the amount will finance Ukrainian military expenses, giving priority to European weapons manufacturers. In this model, Kiev could only acquire weapons outside Europe in case of “urgent need”, when “there is no alternative”, and after authorization from the Commission and Member States.
The European Parliament has already approved the acceleration of the legislative process for the financial package, which is expected to run until 2027, while governments negotiate a compromise on the final text.
