NATO chief Mark Rutte warned Europe cannot defend itself without the United States, in the face of calls for the continent to stand on its own feet after tensions over Greenland.
During his address to European Parliament, Rutte said that “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 said that EU countries would have to double defence spending from the 5% NATO target agreed last year to 10% and spend “billions and billions” on building nuclear arms.
“You would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella,” Rutte said. “So hey, good luck.”
The former Dutch prime minister insisted that U.S. commitment to NATO’s Article 5 mutual defence clause remained “total,” but that the United States expected European countries to keep spending more on their militaries.
“They need a secure Euro-Atlantic, and they also need a secure Europe. So the U.S. has every interest in NATO,” he said.
The NATO head reiterated his repeated praise for Trump for pressuring reluctant European allies to step up defense spending.
He also appeared to knock back a suggestion floated by the EU’s defence commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, earlier this month for a possible European defence force that could replace U.S. troops on the continent.
“It will make things more complicated. I think (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will love it. So think again,” Rutte said.
After threats against Greenland and Denmark, the European Union Legislative body earlier halted the approval and implementation of the trade deal it reached last summer with US President Donald Trump.
The Chairman of the European Parliament’s international trade committee, Bernd Lange on Wednesday said in a statement that given the escalating and continued threats, including tariffs, against Denmark and Greenland, they are left with no choice but to suspend the work on the deal.
He further added that until the US decides to re-engage on path of cooperation rather than confrontation no steps to advance the agreement will be taken.
On X formerly twitter Lange emphasised that Europe’s territorial integrity is at stake. In the current scenario doing business as usual is impossible with the US.
The suspension of the deal comes after Trump announced on Saturday that the European countries which will be resisting the US’s control of Greenland will have tariffs imposed on them.
The transatlantic trade relationship between EU and US is very important for both of the countries. In 2024, it was valued at $1.5 trillion annually in goods and services. The US imports $600 billion in EU goods and the EU purchases more than $360 billion in American.
The EU leaders are scheduled to meet on Thursday and will be coordinating their response. The response could be retaliatory tariffs of worth $110 billion. The tariffs will be targeting US exports that will range from Boeing Airplanes, soybeans and Kentucky bourbon.
Another measure is also being considered by Europe which is the deployment of EU’s “Anti-Coercion Instrument.” This will allow Europe to impose restrictions on US services and goods in Europe.
