NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte believes that the European Union should not become completely independent from the United States in the field of defense, despite the stance taken on this issue by the government of US President Donald Trump.
The United States expects Europe to take more responsibility and spend more money on defense, Rutte told dpa in a recent interview, reports daily mirror.
“Jam absolutisht i bindur se SHBA-ja është plotësisht e përkushtuar ndaj NATO-s. Nuk ka asnjë dyshim. Pritshmëritë janë rritur. Në të vërtetë, ne duam të shpenzojmë më shumë, Evropa do të marrë më shumë përgjegjësi”, tha ai
The former Dutch Prime Minister highlighted the NATO summit in The Hague in June, where all allies agreed to increase defense spending to 5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2035.
“I think this is still one of the biggest foreign policy victories of President Trump, these 5 percent, a clear commitment to greater production,” Rutte said, adding that “seventy-five percent of the economic impact is still outside the EU.”
Acknowledging the EU’s importance, he noted that the 23 EU countries within NATO account for only about a quarter of the alliance’s overall economic influence.