NATO chief says Europe should ‘keep on dreaming’ if it thinks it can defend itself without the US | CNN
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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has told Europe it should “keep on dreaming” if it thinks it can defend itself without the support of the United States.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has told Europe it should “keep on dreaming” if it thinks it can defend itself without the support of the United States.

“If anyone thinks here again that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming. You can’t. We can’t. We need each other,” Rutte said during an address to the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday.

The NATO chief warned European nations they would need to increase defense spending to 10% if they “really want to do it alone,” adding they would need to build up their own nuclear capability, costing billions of euros.

  • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    6 hours ago

    Against who, Russia?

    Russia is 3 years into a 2-day war against a non-nuclear power that’s drafting women and old men, and it still barely holds it’s own. If Europe put a quarter of it’s existing force on the ground in Eastern Ukraine, Russia would be running home with it’s tail tucked, or be lobbing nukes to save their asses.

    What a fucking bullshit artist. What’s in it for him to spread this narrative?

    • Paragone@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      3 hours ago

      Ukraina is holding-its-own ONLY because of the ocean-of-resources WE are pouring into Ukraina.

      Trump’s decapitating representative-republic from the US of A, next month, & acting on his already repeatedly-declared intent to coerce Canada into being his possession, using Greenland to snuff our EU-lifeline.

      With China making Putin, currently economically nearly-helpless, except for all the African gold he’s gaining, through his “Africa Corps” ( former Wagner ), with China making Putin an offer he cannot refuse, as soon as Trump declares his annexation of Canada:

      Puting can rampage on Europe all he wants, using all the lives he can scrounge, so long as he accommodates China’s supplanting Russia, throughout Russia’s government.

      ( the “revised edition” of The Mongol Yoke, from Russian-people’s perspective )

      Since Putin only cares about himself, & he’s got NO alternative, that’s a DONE deal.

      So, then Europe’s on its own, against the combined-might of Russia’s military-economy AND China’s economic-force & authoritarian-gov’t…

      Totally different equation.

      Further, launching nukes means BOTH sides get some nuclear-incineration, & massive nuclear-poisoning.

      Putin’s got less to lose: slamming Europe with nukes would suit him fine, right?

      Europe, wanting to NOT have the world turned into a few glassed-cities with nuclear-poison all over the place ( no, 500 nukes couldn’t destroy the planet’s life, completely, not by a long-shot: they’d be used clustered, on high-value-targets ), is hobbled in a way that Putin isn’t.

      & that means that the war’s going to be conventional, as long as the EU can prevent nukes from getting played.

      _ /\ _