Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stated that Europe must prepare for self-defense amid growing doubts about the U.S. readiness to defend its allies. He proposes creating a new European defense alliance with its own security guarantees.
Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called for the creation of a new European defense structure that could operate independently of the United States.
In an interview with the German magazine Welt, he stated that the current NATO model is no longer sufficient, as U.S. President Donald Trump's policies have intensified European countries' doubts about the reliability of American security guarantees.
"We are currently witnessing the disintegration of NATO, and this is dangerous," Rasmussen said.
In his opinion, Europe has relied too long on American military protection and must now learn to ensure the continent's security on its own.
Rasmussen proposes to create a formalized "coalition of goodwill" — an alliance of European states willing not only to increase defense spending but also to make operational decisions without internal blockages.
According to his idea, only countries that spend at least 5% of their GDP on defense and are ready to provide each other with security guarantees similar to NATO's Article 5 would be able to participate in such an alliance.
This means that within the new structure, there should be no mechanism allowing individual states to block military decisions — a problem that NATO and the EU have been debating for many years.
Rasmussen emphasized that he is not suggesting a complete replacement of NATO. According to him, the American nuclear umbrella remains a key factor in Europe's security.
However, ordinary defense — armies, armaments, ammunition production, and readiness for conflicts — should be ensured by Europeans themselves, in his view.
Separately, the former NATO chief called for Ukraine to be included in the future European security system as a full participant in the new alliance.
He also noted that the war has demonstrated Ukraine's ability to rapidly increase weapons production and develop new types of weaponry.
Rasmussen's statements reflect the growing discussion in Europe about how prepared the EU and European countries are for a scenario in which the U.S. reduces its involvement in ensuring the continent's security.
According to the politician, the previous model of Europe's dependence — "cheap energy from Russia, cheap goods from China, and cheap security from the U.S." — no longer works.
The question of creating a separate European defense structure remains a political idea for now, but such proposals are becoming increasingly common in Europe.
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