Warsaw:
NATO-Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned the United States and Europe against any temptation on Wednesday to “go alone” about safety, in the midst of increased tensions about the future of the Transatlantic Alliance.
US President Donald Trump recently made doubt about Washington's willingness to defend NATO fellow people who considered it, not enough for their own defense, which caused an alarm among European leaders about the future of the Atlantic Alliance, experiencing a more assertive Russia.
Speaking at the Warsaw School of Economics, Rutte said that the US needed European countries to “act” about safety and that the alliance should become more fair.
“Let me be absolutely clear, this is not the time to do it alone. Not for Europe or Noord -America,” said Rutte.
“The global security challenges are too great for someone of ours to be confronted alone. When it comes to keeping Europe and North America, there is no alternative to NATO,” he added.
A number of European countries, including Germany and Great Britain, have announced plans to increase the expenditure of defense, since Trump is seeking an rapprochement with Russian President Vladimir Putin in his efforts to end the three-year Ukrainian war.
Trump has previously said that members of NATO alliance have to spend 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on Defense -a significant increase in the current goal of 2% and a level that does not meet NATO country, including the United States.
“Yes, Europe needs to know that Uncle Sam still has our back. But America must also know that his NATO fellow people will perform,” said Rutte, adding that the top of the Alliance in June in The Hague would be a groundbreaking moment in its history.
“We will start a new chapter for our Transatlantic Alliance, where we build a stronger, fairer and more deadly NATO,” said the former Dutch Prime Minister. “A fairer NATO means that all allies do their fair share.”
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