WARSAW, Poland — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte appealed for unity on Wednesday as European nations scale up their armed forces and defense industries after the United States warned that Europe must take care of its own security in future.
Trust between the 32 member countries is at a new low. NATO was formed 76 years ago to provide stability in Europe; a guarantee underwritten by the United States. But the Trump administration says America’s security priorities now lie in Asia and on its own borders.
“Let me be absolutely clear, this is not the time to go it alone. Not for Europe or North America,” Rutte said in a speech in Warsaw. “The global security challenges are too great for any of us to face on our own.”
Rutte said that “there is no alternative to NATO” even as some allies worry about the U.S. commitment to the organization’s central principle that an attack on one ally must be considered an attack on them all, while Washington demands that European countries stop free-riding on its massive military budget.
His warning comes as Europe tries to wean itself off its security dependence on the United States, just as it reduced its reliance on Russian energy after President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine three years ago, amid a drive to buy more European military equipment.
“Yes, Europe needs to know that Uncle Sam still has our back, but America also needs to know that its NATO allies will step up and play their full part, without restrictions and without capability gaps," Rutte said. "It’s only fair. Reassurance is a two-way street.”
His comments come on the eve of a visit to Greenland by U.S. Vice President JD Vance. President Donald Trump has not ruled out the use of military force to seize control of Greenland, an autonomous territory belonging to NATO and European Union member Denmark and this has deeply unsettled many allies.
Still, Rutte said he is “absolutely confident” about the U.S. commitment to NATO's Article 5 security guarantee. He added that “nothing can replace America’s nuclear umbrella, the ultimate guarantor of our security.” Britain and France are also nuclear powers but their arsenals are tiny by comparison.
Asked on March 13 whether U.S. forces would defend an ally which came under attack from Russia, Trump said: “We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen.” Trump also said that “you have to keep NATO strong. You have to keep it relevant.”
Rutte said he believes that when Trump and his NATO counterparts meet for a summit in the Netherlands in June, "we will begin a new chapter for our transatlantic alliance where we build a stronger, fairer and more lethal NATO to face a more dangerous world.”
He said that ambitious new spending targets would be set. Twenty-three NATO member countries are estimated to be meeting the current guideline of more than 2% of their gross domestic product on national defense budgets. Rutte has said that the new target would be “well north of 3%.”
Earlier on Wednesday, at talks with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Rutte warned Russia that the alliance would always stand by Poland or any other member and that its reaction to an attack would be “devastating.”
Tusk said it was important to be prepared for any outcome of talks between Russia and the United States aimed at ending t he 3-year-old war in Ukraine.
NATO members along its eastern flank, particularly Poland and the Baltic states, are extremely worried that the talks could end with a settlement that is favorable to Russia. They fear such an outcome would allow Putin to rebuild his country's forces and threaten other countries in the region in the coming years.
Rutte said that neither Putin nor anyone else should assume they could get away with something like that.
“If anyone were to miscalculate and think they can get away with an attack on Poland or on any other ally, they will be met with the full force of this fierce alliance. Our reaction will be devastating. This has to be very clear to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and anyone else who wants to attack us," Rutte said.
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Cook reported from Brussels.
