For the boss of a military alliance dedicated to mutual security, NATO chief Mark Rutte seemed unperturbed by one member’s recent threats to annex allied territory.
On his first official visit to the European Parliament on Monday, Rutte was quizzed by lawmakers on everything from ammunition standards to suspected Russian sabotage at sea. But it was the awkward situation within the alliance which really got parliamentarians talking, after US President-elect Donald Trump’s recent overtures toward Greenland — and his refusal to rule out using force to take the Arctic island.
Faced with multiple questions about the autonomous Danish territory, Rutte danced around the issue.
“The new incoming [US] administration will start next Monday. We have seen some press conferences, some things being said by some people in the US, but I would say let’s take this forward starting from next Monday,” he told lawmakers.
“Trump has been right many times,” Rutte said later in his remarks. “We need to dialogue with him and I like very much the reaction of Mette Frederiksen, the Prime Minister of Denmark, who did not immediately react to what he said about Greenland — but she brought it back to the issue which is at stake, which is the Arctic,” he added.
Melting Arctic ice caused by climate change has been heating up global geopolitics in recent years, a broader issue Rutte said allies should discuss in more detail.
“This is not about who rules or controls Greenland. This is, of course, about making sure that the Arctic stays safe. So, yes, Europe can rely on the United States.“
Picking his battles
The barely-there answer is unlikely to satisfy those outraged by Trump’s recent remarks about the sovereign territory of a fellow NATO ally.
Swedish center-left MEP Evin Incir slammed them as “unacceptable” statements which “play into the hands of Russia and China” and urged Rutte to “stand firm in support of Denmark and Greenland in these times of rising geopolitical tension.”
But researcher Bruno Lete, an expert in trans-Atlantic ties, thinks the NATO chief is trying some carefully calculated diplomacy.
“Rutte needs to balance the critical stance of Trump towards NATO itself — think about the question around defense spending — against Trump’s comments regarding annexing sovereign territory of a NATO member state,” he told DW.
“To diverge this tension, Rutte may rather choose to leave the issue of Greenland to Denmark, rather than positioning it at lliance level. In sum, Rutte is carefully choosing which fight to pick.”
Given Trump’s track record on raising heart rates in Europe with overnight social media posts, it likely won’t be the last time Rutte has to paper over the cracks of a sticky situation. And it seems this time at least, he’s playing nice.
Cough up on defense or face insecurity by 2030: Rutte
But the NATO number one was much blunter in his stark warnings on defense expenditure in Europe.
“We can’t afford to wait. We are safe now. We are not safe in five years,” Rutte said on Monday. “We have to start today: spending more ramping up production, getting resilience right and supporting Ukraine,” he added, praising Trump for his past demands that NATO nations boost their defense spends. Both the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administrations demanded the same of European allies.
Around two thirds of the 32 members currently spend 2% or more of their GDP on defense — a target set out by the alliance a decade ago. But Rutte warned this is now inadequate.
“To be honest, 2% is not nearly enough to stay safe in the years to come. Allies will need to spend considerably more than 2%,” he told parliamentarians — though was careful not to define a new target.
Marie-Agnes Strack Zimmerman, a German centrist lawmaker who chairs the European Parliament’s security committee, backs Rutte’s push.
“We have to strengthen the European part of NATO, and not in three or four years’ time,” she told DW. “Even if you are critical of NATO, it is an alliance based on reciprocity,” she said, noting that the US currently accounts for almost 60% of all defense spending across the alliance.
Dig into pensions, social budgets to bulk up defense, Rutte asks
But where to find extra cash for more arms is a conundrum EU countries are yet to solve. One idea being floated is to raise funds through joint borrowing — something Rutte himself was staunchly opposed to in his time as Dutch prime minister, and an idea which still irks more frugal EU member states.
Rutte steered clear of the debate on joint debt, instead suggesting countries dig into other budget areas to make up the shortfall.
“On average, European countries easily spend up to a quarter of their national income on pensions, health and social security systems, and we need only a small fraction of that money to make defense much stronger,” he said.
But the scenes outside the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday hinted at just how difficult that may prove politically for many national governments, with thousands of Belgian workers striking to protest planned pension reforms.
Edited by: Matt Pearson
