NATO Secretary General Rutte warned on the 26th that after the tensions in Greenland, despite calls for Europe to stand on its own, Europe simply cannot defend itself without the United States.
According to AFP, US President Trump threatened to take Denmark’s autonomous territory of Greenland—a move that shocked the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. After Rutte communicated with Trump last week, Trump finally withdrew his hardline stance.
Some argue that Europe should adopt a tough stance against Trump and break away from its military dependence on Washington. This diplomatic crisis has given such arguments new momentum.
At the European Parliament, NATO Secretary General Rutte said: “If anyone here still thinks that the EU, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the United States—keep dreaming, you can’t do it.”
Rutte stated that EU countries must double the 5% defense spending agreed to last year at NATO to 10%, and invest “billions and billions” in building nuclear weapons.
Will Lose America’s Nuclear Umbrella
Rutte, who once served as Dutch Prime Minister, said: “You will lose the last guarantee of our freedom, and that is America’s nuclear umbrella. So, good luck.”
Rutte insisted that US commitment to NATO’s Article 5 on collective defense remains “complete”, but that America also expects European countries to continue increasing military spending.
He said: “They need a secure Europe, and the Atlantic region also needs a secure Europe. So, the United States has very strong interests in NATO.”
Rutte again praised Trump, crediting Trump for pressuring hesitant European allies to raise defense spending.
Speaking about Greenland, Rutte stated that he agreed with Trump’s perspective and that NATO would “take on more Arctic defense responsibility”, but whether to increase the US military presence in Greenland still needs to be discussed by the Greenland and Danish authorities themselves.