NATO

Rubio warns Europe of new era in geopolitics before big Munich speech

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken of a defining moment and a “new era” as he travels to Europe for a major speech to the Munich Security Conference.

Rubio will lead the US delegation at the first major global event since President Donald Trump threatened Danish sovereignty with a pledge to annex Greenland.

French President Emmanuel Macron has insisted Europe must prepare for independence from the US, while Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte has stressed that transatlantic bonds are as close and important as ever.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope, NATO, USA

Pentagon hawk calls on Nato to push for ‘partnership, not dependency’

President Trump’s main military strategist has called for a Nato “based on partnership rather than dependency”, in which European countries, Britain and Canada will be expected to accelerate their commitments to increase defence budgets.

Before a meeting of alliance defence ministers in Brussels on Thursday, Elbridge Colby, 46, argued for a reformed “Nato 3.0” that was closer to its original Cold-War era iteration, rather than a group mainly underwritten by US military power.

“In 2025, we saw a genuine commitment to have Europe lead the conventional defence of Nato,” he said. “Now it’s time to march out together, to be pragmatic, we have a really strong basis for working together in partnership, for a Nato based on partnership rather than dependency. Really, a return to what Nato originally was intended for.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inNATO, USA

The rules-based international order is officially dead. Has NATO suffered the same fate?

Much of the world is still trying to figure out what the consequences will be from Mark Carney’s speech in Davos, Switzerland. The prime minister won plaudits for daring to call out the behaviour of the world’s superpowers, particularly, President Donald Trump and the United States, although in neither case, by name. Janice Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, looked back at several previous speeches by Canadian prime ministers on an international stage and concludes that Carney’s was the most impactful ever.

The Poohbahs of the EU are pressing for their own “armed forces” so it may be NATO has run it’s course. 

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inNATO

NATO sets Arctic mission plans in motion

NATO on Tuesday said “planning is underway” for an Arctic mission, coming weeks after US President Donald Trump frayed the strategic alliance by claiming the US needs to control Greenland to avert unverified security concerns from Russia and China.

Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, told reporters that a “NATO enhanced vigilance activity” will “further strengthen NATO’s posture in the Arctic and High North.” He did not provide further details as planning has just begun.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inNATO

‘Keep on dreaming’: could Europe really defend itself without the US?

The Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, was typically blunt when he met members of the European parliament this week. From the dais of the blond-wood committee room in Brussels, he was clear: “If anyone thinks that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming. You can’t. We can’t.”

And if Europe wanted to supplant the US nuclear deterrent, existing spending commitments would have to double, he added – “so hey, good luck!”

His comments left some MEPs fuming. The former Dutch prime minister – who provoked mockery when he called Donald Trump “Daddy” – had already irritated some deputies with his robust defence of the US president’s interest in the Arctic.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope, European Union, NATO, USA

Rutte faces backlash for telling Europeans to ‘keep on dreaming’ about independence from US security

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is facing a backlash after saying that the European Union should “keep on dreaming” about becoming independent from the United States, its largest ally, in matters related to security and defence.

His comments came on the heels of US President Donald Trump’s attempt to seize Greenland from Denmark through punitive measures, an unprecedented dispute that brought the nearly 80-year-old transatlantic alliance to the brink of collapse.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inNATO, USA

Europe can’t defend itself without the US, NATO’s Rutte warns

BRUSSELS — Europe is incapable of defending itself without America, NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Monday, speaking just days after Donald Trump’s repeated threats to seize Greenland pushed the alliance to the brink of collapse.

“If anyone thinks here … that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming,” he told lawmakers on the European Parliament’s defense and foreign affairs committees. “You can’t.”

A “European pillar [of NATO] is a bit of an empty word,” Rutte said, arguing a European army would create “a lot of duplication” with the alliance. Moreover, Russian President Vladimir “Putin will love it,” he added.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope, European Union, NATO, USA

Germany prepares for Russia to attack Nato in two years

Russia launches a full-scale war of aggression against Nato and the German armed forces are in the thick of the action from the first hours.

A 4,800-strong mechanised infantry strikes from a forward base in Lithuania before another 15,000 rapid-response troops are rushed to the front in a matter of days.

Over the weeks that follow tens of thousands of allied soldiers arrive at German North Sea ports to be shuttled east along road and rail routes plagued by Russian sabotage, cyberattacks and possibly long-range missile strikes.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inGermany, NATO, Russia

America should withdraw from NATO immediately

Trump’s “Board of Peace” might sound ridiculous, and perhaps it is. But it’s no more ridiculous than claiming NATO is a board of peace.

That phrase now circulates in respectable company, with a straight face, as though repetition alone could make it true. It cannot. NATO was not born as a peace club, but as a military alliance with a narrow defensive purpose — specifically, to prevent the Soviet Union from rolling tanks across Western Europe.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inNATO, USA

Trump’s Greenland threats show Europe must prepare for Nato’s end

Yesterday, Trump shocked Nato allies with a threat this weekend to impose tariffs on Denmark and a range of other Nato allies if they refuse to cede Greenland to the US. In response, the former Danish prime minister and Secretary-General of Nato, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, told the Financial Times that: “Since childhood, I have considered the United States as the natural leader of the Free World. I’ve even spoken about the US as the world’s policeman… Now we see the United States use a language that’s pretty close to the gangsters that they should control in Moscow, Beijing etc.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inGreenland, NATO, USA

US troops in Germany are legacy of World War II, Cold War

Donald Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland has raised questions about the US’s commitment to NATO. The US maintains a major military presence in Germany — a vital part of its post-World War II national defense strategy.

Germany has been a vital part of the United States’ defense strategy in Europe since Allied forces occupied the country for 10 years following the end of World War II.

Though troop numbers have, of course, fallen significantly since those days, the US military still maintains a major presence in Germany, and over the intervening decades, American military communities have formed around a handful of German towns.

The total number of US military personnel has also risen significantly in the past few years, from fewer than 39,000 in 2019 to over 50,000 in 2024. The only other country where the US keeps a comparable number of overseas troops is Japan.

GOOGLE AI – Does the German public wish that America would close it’s military bases in Germany?

Desire for Withdrawal: Recent data indicates that approximately 47% of Germans support reducing the number of U.S. soldiers, and roughly 25% (one in four) would prefer a complete withdrawal of all American forces.

Geopolitical Shifts: The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has created a paradoxical situation where many Germans feel “unprotected” and “abandoned” by U.S. policy shifts, yet 58% oppose Germany taking a leading military role to replace the U.S..

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inGermany, NATO, USA

A U.S. takeover of Greenland could be ‘shattering of NATO,’ warns Canada’s former military commander

As U.S. President Donald Trump insists his country needs Greenland for security purposes, Canada’s former top soldier is warning that a U.S. takeover of the area could spell the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“We have no history of one NATO partner seizing territory from another,” said retired general Wayne Eyre, formerly Canada’s chief of the defence staff, in an interview with CBC’s The House. “I share the Danish assessment that yes, this could be the shattering of NATO, much to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s delight.”

I’m pretty sure “Shattering NATO” is a Feature not a Bug to Trump.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, Greenland, NATO, USA

Nato spending pledge is Trump’s biggest foreign policy success, Rutte tells BBC

Nato countries’ pledge to spend 5% of their economic output on defence is Donald Trump’s “biggest foreign policy success,” the alliance’s chief has said.

In an interview with the BBC, Mark Rutte said it was thanks to Donald Trump that Nato was “stronger than it ever was”, adding that Trump “is good news for collective defence, for Nato and for Ukraine”.

The US leader has harshly criticised European allies for spending very little on defence – even threatening to withdraw US protection if they fail to do so.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inNATO