France Says Europe Must Take Charge of Its Own Security

(MENAFN) France’s foreign minister asserted on Monday that Europe is fully capable of taking responsibility for its own security, responding to remarks by the NATO chief suggesting the continent cannot defend itself without U.S. support.

“No, dear Mark Rutte. Europeans can and must take charge of their own security,” Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on social media. “Even the United States agrees. It is the European pillar of NATO,” he added.

Rutte, NATO Secretary General and former Dutch prime minister, had told the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Security and Defense in Brussels that Europe cannot defend itself independently. “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. We can't. We need each other,” he said.

He also cautioned that creating a European Defense Force would involve “a lot of duplication” and pose logistical challenges. “I wish you luck if you want to do it. Because you have to find the men and women in uniform, it will be on top of what is happening already, and it will make things more complicated,” Rutte said.

The United States, particularly under the Trump administration, has repeatedly urged European allies to assume greater responsibility for their own defense. Rutte, sometimes referred to as “the Trump whisperer,” has often expressed support for the U.S. president, even as other European leaders have clashed with him.

Recently, he helped avert a diplomatic standoff over Greenland after meeting with Trump, resulting in a “framework” agreement that eased threats of U.S. tariffs on nations opposing the proposed takeover of the Danish territory.

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