On Monday 26 January, NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, said that Europe and the United States needed each other for their defence.
“If anyone here still thinks that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the United States, dream on. You can’t. We can’t, we need each other”, he stressed during a hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels.
According to Mr Rutte, if the Europeans want to build their own alliance, it will not cost them 5% (NATO’s spending target), but 10% of their GDP – and they will have to develop their own nuclear deterrent capability.
“That costs billions and billions of euros. And in that scenario, you would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, namely the US nuclear umbrella. So good luck!”, he said. However, the Secretary General acknowledged that the time when the burden of Europe’s security could be placed on the United States was “over”.
Asked about NATO’s European pillar, Mr Rutte felt that the EU and the Alliance should focus on their complementarities. In his opinion, if this pillar means distributing forces and playing to the strengths of both organisations, “that’s perfect”. But if it is a European force, it will mean duplication and complications, he warned. “Putin will love it”, he said.
Although he did not mention it in his introductory remarks, Mr Rutte was asked by a number of MEPs about the US threats to Greenland. He said that the parties had agreed on two areas of work: one between Denmark, the United States and Greenland – in which the Secretary General will not be involved, and another on the collective defence of the Arctic security architecture – which involves NATO (see EUROPE 13792/4).
“It will be a question of how best to work collectively to prevent Russia and China from becoming more active in the Arctic, so that they do not become military adversaries in the region”, explained Mr Rutte, also stressing the need to prevent these two countries, which are rivals of the Americans and Europeans, from gaining economic access to the Arctic.
Ukraine. The former Dutch Prime Minister also returned to the subject of military support for Ukraine, notably through the PURL initiative. This involves the financing by Europeans and Canadians of US military equipment sent to Ukraine, in particular Patriots.
According to Mr Rutte, the military funding needs for Ukraine for 2026 are in excess of €60 billion. He therefore warned Europeans against imposing overly strict conditions on the use of the €90 billion loan that will be granted to Kyiv over the 2026-2027 period (see EUROPE 13786/4).
“The package will make a huge difference to Ukrainian security”, he explained, calling on MEPs to “show flexibility in the use of funds, not to be too restrictive” when it comes to favouring purchases of European products, as some Member States such as France would like.
“Europe is building its defence industry, but it cannot produce what Ukraine needs today and to defend itself tomorrow”, said Mr Rutte, encouraging MEPs to put Ukraine’s needs first. “If Ukrainians can buy in Europe, that’s great. But without equipment from the United States, Ukraine will not be able to defend itself”, he insisted, highlighting the importance of missile interceptors.
Mr Rutte also noted that some Allies were blocking Ukraine’s accession to NATO, “which is inevitable, but not possible for the time being”, pointing out that security guarantees were crucial. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)