NATO chief warns EU cannot defend itself without US nuclear umbrella

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has warned Europe that it does not possess the capability to defend itself without the help of the United States (U.S.).

In conversation with EU lawmakers in Brussels on Monday, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) chief said that if the European Union (EU) or Europe as a whole wants to defend itself against external threats, it needs to double its current military spending targets.

He said Europe and the U.S. need each other, adding, “If you think the EU can defend itself without U.S. military power then ‘Keep on dreaming’.”

Rutte’s remarks come after his breakthrough meeting with the U.S. President Donald Trump in which a framework for a deal over U.S. acquisition of Greenland was reached.

Trump previously said that anything less than the U.S. control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous region in the Kingdom of Denmark, would be unacceptable and threatened to impose 10 percent tariffs on European countries opposing his demand.

However, he backed down from the tariffs after meeting Rutte. The details of the agreement between the two remain under wraps.

NATO’s article 5 bounds all 32 nations in the alliance to come to the defence of the country whose territory is under threat.

Rutte warned that losing the U.S. as an ally would mean losing the guarantor of European freedom which is the nuclear umbrella of the U.S., “so he, good luck!”