BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte underscored on Monday that Europe cannot defend itself without continued military support from the United States, pushing back against growing calls for European strategic autonomy. Speaking to lawmakers at the European Parliament’s Security and Defence Committee in Brussels, Rutte said that imagining a fully independent European defense capability without U.S. collaboration is unrealistic under current circumstances.
“If anyone thinks … that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming,” Rutte told EU legislators, emphasizing that transatlantic cooperation remains essential due to the scale and complexity of modern security threats. He added that for Europe to reach full defense self-sufficiency, nations would need to more than double their already ambitious defense spending targets, and even then might still lack critical capabilities such as nuclear deterrence.
Rutte’s remarks come amid internal NATO debates about defense spending and autonomy, triggered partly by recent tensions within the alliance over geopolitical priorities and the distribution of military responsibilities. Despite these debates, he stressed that mutual reliance between Europe and the U.S. strengthens collective security, rather than undermining it.
News as reported.
