“NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte believes that, despite the current course of US President Donald Trump’s administration, the EU should not completely abandon cooperation with the US in defense matters.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: FAZ, “European Truth” reports
Details: As NATO Secretary General noted, the US expects Europe to take more responsibility and spend more money on defense. At the end of the day, it’s about doing it together with the US, he added.
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Rutte assured that the US fully supports NATO and remains in the Alliance and in Europe.
Rutte’s statement came in response to the statement of the head of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, who previously called for the creation of a “European NATO” because, according to him, the United States can no longer be unconditionally relied upon.
Rutte said that he had a high regard for Manfred Weber. However, he has a slightly different opinion on this issue.
“I am absolutely convinced that the United States fully supports NATO. There is no doubt about that,” he said.
In this context, he mentioned the NATO summit held this summer in The Hague, where all allies pledged to increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.
“I believe that today this is one of the greatest successes of President Trump in the field of foreign policy,” said the NATO Secretary General.
In addition, Rutte pointed out that NATO consists not only of the USA and EU countries.
“When it comes to Europe and NATO, it is more than the EU,” he said, pointing to such NATO members as Great Britain, Norway, Canada and the United States.
Rütte and before expressed confidencethat the United States, as before, will remain an ally of Europe within the Alliance.
It should be noted that at the beginning of Trump’s second term, the media reported that the American president was considering the possibility making significant changes to the policy of US participation in NATO.