NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and Committee on Security and Defence (SEDE) in Brussels that Europe cannot defend itself without the help of the United States.
“if anyone thinks here, again, that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming. You can’t,” he declared. “We can’t. We need each other. And why do we need each other? I tell you, first of all, because also the US needs NATO. And the US is not only in NATO to prevent a mistake after the First World War … They are also in NATO because for the US to stay safe, and by the way, Arctic region is evidence here, they need a secure Arctic.”
Rutte noted that the United States needs “a secure Euro-Atlantic, and they also need a secure Europe. So, the US has every interest in NATO, as much as Canada and the European NATO Allies.”
He expressed that Europe has to “build up” its own nuclear capabilities if it goes about security alone, calling the U.S. the “guarantor of our freedom.”
Rutte’s statements follow his defense of President Trump during the World Economic Forum’s summit. “I’m not popular with you now because I’m defending Donald Trump, but I really believe you can be happy that he is there because he has forced us in Europe to step up, to face the consequences that we have to take care of more of our own defense,” Rutte said during a panel discussion.
