Objection from NATO to the European army: There is no need for a new army

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in his speech to students at Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia, said that if separate, repetitive structures are created within the European Union (EU) from NATO, "it will take weeks to decide who will do what, there will be a difficult situation at the moment the decision is made, no one will want this."

Noting that countries should give up their national armies in order for the idea of ​​a European army to be realized, Rutte said, "I think this will not happen for sovereignty reasons. Moreover, considering the command and control structure in NATO, there is no need for such a thing."

Rutte stated that NATO has a command and control system that can enable 32 separate national armies to work together.

Expressing his opinion that he will work together with NATO if the "European Security Council" proposed by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is established, Rutte said, "Because the EU has its own responsibility when it comes to resilience and hybrid issues."

Emphasizing that drone technology is constantly changing, Rutte said, "One of the issues that we need to develop rapidly and further is our drone and anti-drone technology."

In addition, Rutte reminded that a center operates in Poland where the lessons learned by NATO from the Russia-Ukraine War are analyzed.

Stating that multi-layered systems are also needed in air defense, Rutte said, "We must ensure that we can protect ourselves, and especially our cities and critical infrastructure, in a cost-effective manner at every layer."

Asked when hybrid attacks qualify as armed attacks within the scope of Article 4 or Article 5, Rutte replied: "We are deliberately vague on this issue because we do not want the Russians or any other country that wishes us evil to know more."