Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warns that the alliance cannot survive without the US, while simultaneously maintaining that the EU cannot fulfill NATO's role, UNN reports with reference to SVT.
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He believes that the alliance in its current form will not survive without the United States.
"No, not the NATO we have known for almost 80 years, because it is about Europe and the US standing together and facing all threats. That is why it is so important that we do everything possible to prevent a split between Europe and the US," he said on the Agenda Special program.
However, Jens Stoltenberg warns against excessive speculation regarding the future of NATO.
"There should be no uncertainty in Moscow about our readiness to defend one another," he noted.
Uncertainty regarding US participation and the fact that Europe will have to take on a larger share of its own defense while the US withdraws its troops have led to calls for the creation of a kind of European NATO or an EU army. Jens Stoltenberg, who headed NATO and is currently Norway's Minister of Finance, rejects the idea of a European defense alliance.
"I have great respect for the EU, but I do not believe that the EU can replace NATO when it comes to collective security and defense guarantees," Stoltenberg noted.
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