Tuesday, 02 January 2024 12:17 GMT

NATO Chief Stresses Europe Cannot Defend Itself Without US Support


(MENAFN) NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed on Monday that the United States remains essential to Europe’s defense, warning that the continent cannot face current security threats alone.

“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. We can't. We need each other,” Rutte said during an address to the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Security and Defense in Brussels.

He highlighted that the US also depends on NATO to maintain its own security, underscoring the mutual reliance among alliance members.

“If you really want to go it alone, and those who you are pleading for that, forget that, you can never get there with 5%, it will be 10%. You have to build up your own nuclear capability that costs billions and billions of euros. You will lose, then, in that scenario, you would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella. So, hey, good luck,” Rutte added.

The NATO chief also called for closer coordination between the EU and NATO, noting their complementary strengths. “The EU is great in resilience, but the EU is also great when it comes to regulation. And here, we need particularly deregulation,” he said.

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