NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has asked European nations to further develop their military capabilities and ensure greater cooperation and coordination between western military and the European Union, according to a press release issued Thursday.
Rasmussen made the remarks while addressing the European Council on defense in Brussels. Incidentally, it was the first time that a NATO Secretary-General addressed the European Council.
According to the NATO statement, Fogh Rasmussen told EU heads of state and government that "for Europe to play its full part, we must develop real capabilities, and those capabilities that our nations really need: observation drones, air-to-air refueling, heavy transport."
Rasmussen thanked the President of the Council Herman van Rompuy for the invitation and expressed appreciation for the EU's focus on defense, as both the EU and NATO agree that defense matters. He said that while over the past years, security challenges have increased, defense budgets have decreased, with some European countries cutting their defense budgets by up to 40 percent in real terms.
But he added that what counts is not just what Europe pays in defense costs, but also what role Europe plays in the world.
Describing himself as a committed but concerned European, Mr. Fogh Rasmussen said: "I am concerned that if Europe is unwilling, or unable, to play its full part international crisis management, others will fill the vacuum. And we will reduce our ability to protect our values and defend our interests."
Focusing on the need for stronger national capabilities, the Secretary General stressed that " it is not NATO or the EU that possess these assets. They are owned by individual nations. They benefit the nations that have them."
"And they allow those nations to make a stronger contribution to addressing crises, in any framework they choose - be it EU or NATO or any other way," he stressed.
To provide tax-payers with better value for money, Rasmussen called for greater cooperation, coordination and cohesion between the EU and NATO in developing military capabilities and industrial standards; coordinating approaches to maritime and cyber security; and in training, exercises and defense capacity building for partners that need support.
"The time to act is now. Because unless we Europeans take our security seriously, North Americans will rightly ask why they should. Unless we recommit to our own defense, we risk seeing America disengage - and Europe and America drift apart. This is not what any of us would want, and it would benefit neither us nor the rest of the world," he added.
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Market Analysis
December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.