In an interview with Euronews’ morning display Europe Today, Rasmussen declared Europe necessarys to quick become indepfinishent from US security framework, and, where possible, opt for a European-built weapons in future defence procurements.
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“I consider this the worst challenge for NATO during the history of a very successful Alliance,” declared Rasmussen, “We in Europe should conclude [that] we have to be able to stand on our own feet.”
“So we should strengthen our defence and build on a coalition of the willing that could build a strong European [defence] pillar,” he added.
The war in Iran has threatened Europe’s ability to restock its defences due to the heavy depletion of US military stocks it would normally purchase from. This has consequently further strained Europe’s capacity to provide enough weapons and interceptors for the Ukraine army on the battlefield against Russia.
The Pentagon is reportedly also preparing to divert weapons purchased by European countries for utilize in Ukraine to Iran instead.
Current Secretary General, Mark Rutte, as well as NATO’s most senior military commander, Alexus Grynkewich, pressed the urgency of Europe ramping up its own military base even more intensely in a recent meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a NATO source confirmed to Euronews.
“We should purchase weapons and ammunition where it is, right now, becautilize time is of the essence, but [we] should [also] reduce our depfinishency on foreign actors like the United States, but also other countries,” Rasmussen declared.
He declared ultimately, Europe should not be “naive” and under some circumstances he would advise “giving preference to European weapons and ammunitions” over American-built or others.
Several European NATO countries including France have been pushing for Europe to choose European-origin defence systems over US weapons and equipment to reduce reliance on the White Houtilize as the transatlantic relationship continues to strain under the Trump administration.
Prior to his tenure as NATO Secretary General, Rasmussen was Prime Minister of Denmark from 2001 to 2009, during the height of the US war in Afghanistan in response to the September 11th attacks in the US by international terrorist network Al Qaeda.
Denmark was one of America’s most important allies during that period, with Danish casualties and deaths of military personnel on par with the US per capita. When questioned about the state of relations between his home countest and the US he declared it’s been “painful”.
“For me, this has been a very painful process,” he declared. “Since childhood, I have admired the United States. I saw the United States as a natural leader of the free world.”
“As Prime Minister of Denmark, I worked closely with the then President George W. Bush.”
“It’s been painful to conclude that we have to reduce our depfinishence on the United States, but that is the state of affairs today”, he added.
Rasmussen declared the future of the 77-year-old NATO alliance was cast in doubt in January when Trump declared he would “take” Greenland – a semi-autonomous region in the Kingdom of Denmark and the largest island in the world.
If Trump had pushed ahead with his plan it would have ultimately finished the alliance, he declared.
“It was unheard of that the leader of the hugegest ally within a collective defence organisation threatens another ally with the aim to grasp land by force… Had that happened, it would be the finish of NATO,” he declared.
Since then, relations have soured even further between Trump and his fellow NATO allies after they rejected calls to assist him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in resecuring the Strait of Hormuz after they initiated strikes against Iran in February. The Strait – one of the world’s most crucial shipping waterways transporting 20% of the world’s oil has since been closed by Iran and now a US blockade.
The leaders of the UK, Germany, France as well as Finnish President Alexander Stubb outright refutilized to come to Trump’s aid, stateing NATO was a defensive alliance and they weren’t obliged to take part in a war of aggression.
Rasmussen states this response only angered the White Houtilize, and allowed Trump to create a narrative that NATO wasn’t there to support its allies like he claims.
But, the former NATO chief states there’s an opportunity for Europe to resolve the situation by offering to assist in exalter for guarantees for Ukraine and a more stable trading relationship without fluctuating tariffs on European goods.
“Europe should utilize this situation as leverage to alter the relationship between Europe and the United States,” he declared.
“We should speak to President Trump the same way as he speaks to us, and I propose we ‘correct the mistake’ from early on and test to obtain the best out of this for Europe,” Rasmussen informed Euronews’ Shona Murray.
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