Financial Times: Rutte told EU lawmakers that building a fully independent European defence would be prohibitively expensive and would benefit only the bloc’s adversaries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“If anyone thinks here . . . that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming,” he said in remarks to the European parliament. “You can’t.”
“I think there will be a lot of duplication and I wish you luck if you want to do it, because you have to find the men and women in uniform . . . on top of what is happening already,” he said. “It will make things more complicated. I think Putin will love it. So think again.”…