NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte made a plea to the EU to prioritize its strengths on Monday, in an address to the European Parliament that focused heavily on Ukraine.
The NATO chief’s visit to Brussels came at the tailend of a turbulent month for global security. Emboldened by his Jan. 3 abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, US President Donald Trump’s threats to take control of Greenland dominated January’s news agenda. David McAllister, the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee chair, personally thanked Rutte for his part in defusing those threats before ceding him the floor.
Much of Rutte’s ten-minute speech centred on Ukraine. He began by acknowledging that Russia’s full-scale war is approaching its fourth anniversary, adding that this winter is the harshest Ukrainians have experienced for a decade due to plummeting temperatures and Russia’s targeting of civilian infrastructure.
“Without heat, without light, without water,” Rutte said – summing up the situation for thousands of Ukrainian civilians – before paying tribute to the efforts of US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to “end the bloodshed.”
Witkoff and Kushner visited Moscow last week at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to discuss a US-drafted plan to do just that. Despite the apparent cordiality of the talks, the Kremlin remains committed to its territorial aims in Ukraine and no peace is likely to be forthcoming.
Rutte also reiterated the importance of NATO’s Priority Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program, a mechanism through which NATO countries buy US weapons for Ukraine. PURL was established to allow continued US arms deliveries to Kyiv after Trump was re-elected and military aid dried up.
“We all know that without this flow of weaponry from the US we cannot keep Ukraine in the fight,” Rutte said. “The time when we conveniently let the United States carry much of the burden of our shared security is over. It’s fair and appropriate that Europe and Canada take more of the burden of their own security – and the good news is, they do.”
Rutte also praised the EU for the 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine it agreed in December, describing it as “vital.” (The European Commission had originally proposed using Russian assets frozen in Europe to fund Ukraine’s defense, but failed to garner enough support for the plan.)
But here, too, Rutte cautioned Europe. “I would really strongly urge you to ensure flexibility in how these funds can be spent, and not to be overly restrictive by EU caveats,” he said.
“Europe is now building its defense industry and that is vital, but it cannot at the moment provide nearly enough of what Ukraine needs to defend itself today and to deter tomorrow. So as you take this loan forward, please, I encourage you to keep Ukraine’s needs fiercely in focus.”
Despite courteous acknowledgement of European and Coalition of the Willing efforts to improve the continent’s security, Ukrainian and European dependence on the US was the through-line of Rutte’s address.
“We need to leverage our respective strengths – NATO, EU – even more, use a common pot of money, a single set of forces, and the vast amount of industrial and innovation power we have across the alliance. That’s the only way to keep Europe safe,” he said.
Rutte was even more unequivocal when challenged by European lawmakers after his speech – telling “anyone” who thought Europe can defend itself without the US to “keep on dreaming.”
“You would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella,” Rutte added. “So hey, good luck.”
Rutte also appeared contemptuous about the idea of a European defense force to replace US troops in Europe in the event of relations with Trump breaking down, dismissing it as an idea Putin would “love.”
Above all, Rutte argued in favor of a firm “division of labor” between NATO and the EU, despite their geographical overlap. Twenty three of NATO’s member states are also EU member states, with several other NATO members (such as Norway or Albania) located in continental Europe.
“NATO is strong when it comes to command and control. The EU has its strength in the internal market and therefore in building the defense industry base,” Rutte said.
“The EU is great when it comes to bringing together the money needed. The EU is great in resilience. But the EU is also great when it comes to regulation, and here we need particularly deregulation. I know you are working on it. So my plea is let’s really focus on that division of labor so that collectively we can be as strong as possible.”