Mark Rutte warns that Europe cannot defend itself without the US

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told the defense and foreign affairs committees of the European Parliament that the continent is unable to guarantee its own defense without military support from Washington.

"If anyone thinks here ... that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming," he said. "You can't. We can't. We need each other."

Rutte also explained that a "European pillar [of NATO] is a bit of an empty word," arguing that a European army would generate "a lot of duplication" and could weaken the alliance's cohesion. He believes this would be welcomed by Vladimir Putin by fragmenting the Western security framework.

Rutte stresses U.S. commitment to NATO

The alliance's secretary general's remarks come after Donald Trump recently stated his intention to take over Greenland, sparking tensions between Washington and several European partners. The Republican leader had warned that he could impose new tariffs on European countries that rejected that idea, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

However, according to AFP, last week Trump backtracked after talks at the Davos Forum with NATO's secretary general.

Rutte recalled Monday that the United States maintains "total commitment" to NATO's collective defense. In addition, he also credited Trump with getting all all alliance countries to increase their defense spending to at least 2%of GDP last year.

"Do you really think that Spain and Italy and Belgium and Canada would have decided to move from 1.5 to 2% ... without Trump. No way," Rutte said.

European defense would require much more than 5%

The alliance's secretary general insisted that for Europe to aspire to an autonomous defense, it would have to more than double its current military spending, something he considers unrealistic in the short term.

"For Europe, if you really want to go it alone … forget that you can ever get there with 5%," Rutte said, alluding to the target set by NATO countries to raise their military investment to 5% of GDP by 2035. "It will be 10%," he exclaimed.