Rutte defends Türkiye as ‘valuable NATO member’ against French leader’s criticism

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte responded to a question from far-right French politician Jordan Bardella, who criticized Türkiye, stating, “Türkiye is a very valuable member of NATO.”

Rutte made the comments during a session of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and Security and Defense Subcommittee.

Bardella, leader of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of using NATO as a tool to expand Türkiye’s influence. He then asked Rutte how NATO would approach Türkiye in light of these policies.

Far-right leader accuses Türkiye of exploiting refugee crisis

Bardella also accused Türkiye of exacerbating the migration crisis by exploiting Syrian refugees.

In his response, Rutte highlighted Türkiye’s role in managing the refugee situation, saying, “In 2016, together with the Netherlands, which held the presidency of the European Council, Türkiye and Germany succeeded in reaching an agreement on the Syrian refugee crisis.,” he said.

“This made me very happy because, as a result, we managed to reduce the number of Syrian refugees arriving in Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands,” he stated.

Rutte added, “You will remember Viktor Orban saying, ‘No one wants to come to Hungary, everyone wants to go to Germany.’ That was true. In 2016, the number of refugees could have reached 1 million, but that didn’t happen due to the agreement with Türkiye. I have always felt that Türkiye is a valuable ally of NATO and plays its part.”

Türkiye also defends its own interests, just as others do within the European Union and NATO. This is natural. Türkiye is a very valuable member of NATO.

Mark Rutte

‘European NATO is a dream’

In response to another parliamentarian’s question about Europe having a more autonomous defense, Rutte said, “It would be great to create something like a European NATO, but in that case, you would have to forget about the 2% target for defense spending (of GDP). Instead, you would need to allocate 8%, 9%, or 10% of your budget.”

He added, “You would also have to build your own nuclear capabilities, and if you want to establish a European NATO without the U.S., you should remember that it would take 15-20 years. Right now, the U.S. covers more than 60% of the total spending on NATO territory.”

So the idea that you can create a European NATO in the next 10 or 15 years is a dream,” he stated.