Rutte in the European Parliament: We absolutely cannot accept the creation of a security vacuum in Bosnia

(Patria) - If anyone here thinks Europe can defend itself without the help of the USA, I can only say - keep dreaming.

- You can't. We can't. We need each other. If Europe were to go it alone, you would have to forget about allocating five percent of GDP for defense and think about 10 percent of GDP.

So, hey, good luck - NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said today at a public meeting of the relevant committees of the European Parliament, where he answered questions from MEPs.

Several questions concerned what Rutte had agreed in detail with US President Donald Trump last week in Davos, Switzerland, regarding Greenland, or what kind of framework agreement it was.

Rutte says he agreed on two directions of work with Trump.

- First, NATO allies will jointly take greater responsibility for the security of the Arctic. Second, which I will not be involved in, is the continuation of trilateral talks between the USA, Denmark, and Greenland, which began with a meeting in Washington a week before Davos.

I do not have the mandate to negotiate on behalf of Denmark. I will be very involved in the first direction of work. In NATO, we know how capability goals are developed, and we will define the capabilities we need to defend the Arctic from the increased presence of Russia and China - Rutte replied.

Croatian MEP Tonino Picula asked the NATO Secretary General how he sees the security of the Western Balkans and what the greatest danger in that area is, and Rutte mentioned in his response that "we absolutely cannot accept the creation of a security vacuum in Bosnia", reports Večernji list.

He also assessed that "the KFOR mission is of key importance for Kosovo" and that care must be taken to ensure dialogue with Serbia, from whose president, Aleksandar Vučić, he expects accountability for two events that occurred a few years ago.

Rutte expressed himself in this way, without specifying which events he was referring to, but it is assumed that one of them was the attack in Banjska, Kosovo.

- Vučić promised me that he would establish responsibility - Rutte added.