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Europe Today: Rutte fordert Russland auf, nukleare Drohungen zu beenden
NATO-Generalsekretär Mark Rutte fordert Russland beim Euronews Defence Summit auf, seine Atomdrohungen zu beenden. Er sieht keine akute Gefahr für NATO-Gebiet, Belgiens Verteidigungschef Theo Francken nennt Russland Belgiens größte Bedrohung.
LESEN SIE MEHR : http://de.euronews.com/2026/10/01/europe-today-rutte-fordert-russland-beim-euronews-gipfel-auf-nukleare-drohungen-zu-beenden
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NATO-Generalsekretär Mark Rutte fordert Russland beim Euronews Defence Summit auf, seine Atomdrohungen zu beenden. Er sieht keine akute Gefahr für NATO-Gebiet, Belgiens Verteidigungschef Theo Francken nennt Russland Belgiens größte Bedrohung.
LESEN SIE MEHR : http://de.euronews.com/2026/10/01/europe-today-rutte-fordert-russland-beim-euronews-gipfel-auf-nukleare-drohungen-zu-beenden
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NewsTranskript
00:00.
00:14Good morning. It's Thursday, October 1st.
00:18You're watching Euronews, and this is Europe Today.
00:22Coming up, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called on Russia to stop issuing nuclear threats.
00:28This comes after Moscow reportedly sent a letter to the Western Alliance
00:32that it is prepared to deploy its nuclear arsenal if its territory comes under attack,
00:38which is spoke at the Euronews Defense and Space Summit in Brussels.
00:42The United States has urged European countries to release more emergency oil reserves
00:48to curb soaring energy prices.
00:50Meanwhile, the Trump administration is considering a 90-day diesel export ban
00:55in an effort to contain domestic fuel prices ahead of November's midterm elections.
01:01And the Spanish government has ordered the military to investigate claims
01:06its soldiers maltreated migrants in Ceuta.
01:09This was Madrid's response to a report by Amnesty International.
01:14The organization had gathered dozens of testimonies
01:16blaming soldiers for beatings, harassment, humiliations or theft of money.
01:22Welcome to the program. I'm Stefan Grober.
01:25Europe is facing its most serious security challenge in decades.
01:30From Russia's war in Ukraine to drones, sabotage and hybrid attacks
01:35increasingly testing NATO's eastern flank.
01:38Against that backdrop, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte
01:41came to the Euronews Defense and Space Summit in Brussels with a clear message.
01:46NATO is ready, united and prepared to defend every inch of allied territory.
01:52But as Moscow issues fresh nuclear warnings and pressure grows on Europe
01:57to do more for its own defense, the questions are becoming harder to ignore.
02:02How far could this confrontation go?
02:05And how much more must Europe do to protect itself?
02:08At our defense summit, Mark Rutte addressed those questions
02:12and talked about that strange letter that Moscow sent NATO.
02:17From Russia with love.
02:19What was exactly in the Russian letter, I think it's up to them to disclose.
02:23Putin knows that he can never win from NATO.
02:26So I don't take this that serious.
02:28But of course, we had to reply and make clear to him that NATO is a defensive alliance,
02:33as I said, and stop the war in Ukraine and stop the nuclear threats
02:36because it's not helpful.
02:38And NATO is so much stronger than Russia is.
02:40So there's no way they can ever beat us.
02:42There's a lot of frenzy around the situation in the Baltics
02:45and a security scenario that has or seems to have deteriorated over the past three weeks.
02:49What are the scenarios you're preparing for?
02:5243,000 Russians killed or seriously wounded a month now in Ukraine.
02:57Ukraine holding the front line, doing much better than only a half year or a year ago,
03:01striking deep inside Russia.
03:05Allies supporting Ukraine in terms of weapons delivery, etc.
03:08So this is the picture.
03:10So Putin is not winning this.
03:12So let's assume that he is a bit worried and a bit rattled.
03:16And I think the best way to deal with this is to have a little bit of a calm here.
03:22What Putin tries to do, don't forget, by these letters and these hybrids,
03:29gray zone activities, is he tries to divide us and lose the focus on Ukraine.
03:34We will not.
03:35So every hybrid, whatever happens in Europe, will be met with more support for Ukraine,
03:41not less support for Ukraine.
03:42That's the message.
03:43Should we just take away from this conversation that regardless of the letters,
03:48the trip of a CIA, top officer or not, nothing has changed.
03:52And even if Russia was planning to do something, Europe prepared for it,
03:56and this is NATO territory, will be protected.
03:58There is no imminent threat to NATO territory.
04:02If there is a built up, we will see it and we will deal with it.
04:05If anything happens otherwise, we will also deal with it because we have prepared and trained for this.
04:10And we have to be clear-eyed.
04:12Russia is not doing well in Ukraine.
04:14And this is all about that.
04:16And every minute we spend on this is exactly what Putin loves us to do,
04:21being rattled and talking about, oh, what's happening here, what's happening there.
04:25Calm.
04:25We are stronger.
04:27Carry on.
04:27Keep on investing.
04:28And most of us, most of all, make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to stay in the fight.
04:33How much of a problem is the war in Iran when it comes to the situation in Ukraine?
04:37Yeah, but let's also assess, and here we might always, not all of us agree,
04:41that it was only the United States which was capable of taking out the nuclear capability of Iran,
04:47which was a threat potentially soon, not only for Israel in the Middle East, but also for us here.
04:52You really believe that?
04:53In Brussels, they absolutely believe that, yes.
04:55So the American president taking out that threat, degrading that capability is crucial.
05:00And of course, everywhere also has its downsides.
05:03That's clear.
05:04But I'm looking at the upsides here.
05:06And by the way, with all the extra investments European countries are now making in their defense,
05:12this 3.5% leading to the 5% overall defense spending,
05:15this will lead to a situation where in the future, this stronger Europe and a stronger NATO,
05:20where the Europeans will be able to take care of their backyard themselves.
05:23It should be us doing this, not the Americans.
05:25But do you worry about the ramifications and the energy market?
05:28I mean, there are always downsides.
05:29There are always downsides when war breaks out.
05:31That's clear.
05:32But hey, let's face it.
05:34Europe was not able to take out the nuclear capability of Iran.
05:36We couldn't.
05:37We didn't have the capabilities.
05:38In 10 years, we can and we should.
05:40It should not be the Americans doing it.
05:41It should us be doing it.
05:42It should also us be taking care of the Houthis in the Red Sea and not the Americans.
05:47But hey, of course, there are always ramifications.
05:50But the ramifications start from a premise that it is good that the Americans did this.
05:54And I'm one believing that it was absolutely essential for the Americans to take on Iran.
05:59And do you believe the vast majority of the alliance agrees with your assessment?
06:03No, I don't think so.
06:04But that doesn't care.
06:05I don't care.
06:06You asked me on my opinion.
06:07Let's be honest.
06:08The war is not popular in Europe.
06:10I take all those comments very seriously.
06:11But what I'm telling you is that the nuclear capability of Iran, in my assessment, is a
06:16direct threat, not only to the Middle East, but also to Europe, that it was only the United
06:20States which was able to degrade it.
06:22Yes, when you have a war like this, that will have also negative consequences.
06:26But you have to take them into account.
06:28How is the atmosphere in the alliance at this point?
06:31It's great.
06:32It's the best it has ever been.
06:33Because you have now a Europe which is taking responsibility for its own defense.
06:38President Trump loves NATO.
06:40He only hated one element, which was the fact that we were not spending enough.
06:44And, Secretary General, just a final question.
06:47What do you think NATO 3.0 means?
06:50The problem was that NATO was not sustainable.
06:53It is not sustainable that you have a country, the United States, being overly responsible
06:58for the defense of 600 million Europeans.
07:00The problem was there was a total lack of equality in terms of spending.
07:07That's now being redressed, not only because Trump wants this, but also because we have to
07:11spend much more in Europe to be able to defend ourselves against Russia.
07:18NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte there, speaking to our own Maria Taddeo.
07:23Now I'm joined in the studio by our NATO correspondent, Shona Murray.
07:28Good morning, Shona.
07:29Well, that was quite a lineup at the Uranus Defense Summit.
07:33You were heavily involved with interviews and roundtables.
07:37Tell us about the atmosphere in the room.
07:40What were your biggest impressions?
07:42Well, I mean, it was heavily subscribed because defense is really the key issue in Europe at
07:47the moment.
07:47So we had, for example, the EU Commissioner for Defense, the EU Commissioner for Technology.
07:51We had Sean Clancy, who's the chair of the EU Military Committee.
07:56And the engagement was really important because we had, obviously, issues around hybrid threat,
08:02threat of Moscow, and also issues around the scarcity of interceptors, because we know that
08:08that is a real problem across not just NATO, but across the world as well.
08:11So those issues were very much on the agenda.
08:14And I think it was very interesting to hear from Mark Rutte there saying that there's no
08:17immediate threat to NATO territory.
08:19But I suppose that he would also make the point that that's because NATO has ramped up its
08:24defenses.
08:25At the same time, ask the Baltics what their view is, because we're seeing on a weekly basis,
08:30drones with often military payloads coming into Polish, Lithuanian, Finnish territory often have
08:37to be shot down, scrambled.
08:38We've seen arson, sabotage attacks.
08:40So there is a sort of a disconnection there, it seems, a little bit.
08:45Right.
08:46There were a lot of top speakers.
08:48You mentioned some of them.
08:50I agree.
08:51I think one of them stood out, and that was the Defense Minister of Belgium, Theo Franken.
08:57Why?
08:57Because of his bluntness, especially when he was asked about what is Belgium's biggest threat
09:04right now.
09:05Let's take a listen to what he said.
09:07Russia.
09:08Air attack, air attack, air attack.
09:11So this is the biggest threat.
09:13So we need air defense, air defense, air defense.
09:17So yes, we need really air defense.
09:20We need to scale up our air defenses.
09:21We need to have more stocks, more production, scale up production, industrial base, and large
09:28industrial base.
09:29Everything has to go faster.
09:31And then again, yeah, hybrid threat, of course.
09:33There will be more hybrid threat actions in the next coming months.
09:37It will be a dark winter for Europe.
09:39Let's talk about the hybrid threats.
09:41Rewind 12 months ago, Belgium was seemingly inundated with drones.
09:46There were some unmanned aerial vehicles seen spotted flying near military assets.
09:51Their airports were ground to a halt.
09:53But it's my understanding that the Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office is still determining
09:57roughly where 40 of these drones come from.
10:00What conclusion do you draw from this incident?
10:02Who is to blame here?
10:04Well, that is the definition of hybrid warfare.
10:07It's very difficult to find the actor when you don't find the instrument, the drone, or
10:12the pilot who is doing this.
10:14It's really difficult to have the proof.
10:16They're very, very smart.
10:17Hybrid warfare is not something that Russia is starting since two or three years.
10:21They're doing this for 50 years.
10:24This is something that Putin was really very good at.
10:29So, yeah, this is something that they have a lot of expertise in hybrid warfare.
10:33Absolutely.
10:33So, just speaking on drones once again, in a wide-ranging interview with the Flemish
10:37broadcaster, VRT, Robert Brovdi, who heads up Ukraine's drone defense department, he told
10:44Belgium to take off its, quote, rose-tinted glasses.
10:47And that Belgium, because it hosts NATO, the EU institutions, and Euroclear, which is the
10:53financial institution that holds a big chunk of Russia's immobilized assets, this is what
10:59makes Belgium vulnerable.
11:01Do you think that you're doing enough to protect the country from these incursions?
11:04Do you share his assessment?
11:06So, yes, we were the first, the worst pupil of NATO class.
11:09Now, Belgium is back again.
11:11But it takes time.
11:12So, I need time.
11:13I'm working 24-7, like everybody, every defense minister for the moment.
11:19But, yeah, I think that's, it's going in the right direction.
11:22Have we already all the capabilities that I want to have?
11:28No.
11:28It takes time.
11:29Also, industry cannot follow.
11:31So, when I'm buying Patriots, I have to wait 10 years to get them.
11:34So, it is, we're in a very difficult position at this moment.
11:41Europe has been very good in investing in soft power, in social security, and it's beautiful
11:47to have a pension system, to have social welfare systems.
11:50When somebody gets sick, when somebody's lost his job, we have everything.
11:55But when there's war or when there's hybrid threats, we don't, we have anything.
12:01So, yeah, we were in a really difficult position.
12:04And Belgium was a really bad pupil in the past.
12:06We're trying to step up.
12:07We have a stable government and trying to do what we need to do.
12:14Well, Belgium trying to do what it needs to do.
12:18That was the Belgian defense minister, Theo Franken.
12:22Another speaker who I thought was very impressive was Bulgaria's prime minister, Roman Radev.
12:27Let's listen to what he said.
12:30Bulgaria is a strong, strong participant in strengthening the deterrence and defense on
12:37the eastern flank.
12:38Each member state on the eastern flank must do this, and not only on the eastern flank.
12:43Now, we have seven nations in the multinational battalion settled in Bulgaria.
12:48You mentioned hybrid warfare with drones.
12:51It is extremely difficult to counter these drones.
12:56Why?
12:56It is extremely difficult to detect them.
12:58They fly low.
13:00They use non-metal materials.
13:02It is extremely difficult to detect on the radars.
13:06So, if you apply anti-drone systems, they need to be very, very congested on your border.
13:14That means a lot, a lot, a huge number of such systems.
13:19And their integration, and this is a huge technical challenge to all of us.
13:24And that's why we need to think as soon as possible to put this war to an end.
13:31And I'm afraid, like President Zelensky, for the winter approaching Ukraine, again, devastating energy system,
13:41transportation, industry, defense industry, warehouses.
13:47And we are suffering from this because the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea is over.
13:55It's over.
13:56And the insurance companies, they don't like anymore to insure the ships.
14:04And this influence the transport system of all the Black Sea countries around.
14:10This is a huge impact on our economies.
14:13Made in Europe, and again, this clear European preference.
14:16The U.S. ambassador was right here just a few hours ago saying it is clear the new instruments that
14:21the EU is creating
14:23are looking to limit the U.S. participation.
14:26This is also coming at a time in which multiple European leaders would question whether or not President Trump is
14:31an ally of the EU.
14:32Are you in favor of legislating in this way?
14:35We cannot immediately guarantee our security by ourselves.
14:42Even talking about the nuclear shield.
14:45We cannot go without the United States of America because they provide the essence of the core defense capabilities in
14:53NATO.
14:53We should, it is absolutely clear, it will take time for us to recover, to renovate our industries, our industrial
15:04base, our technology development.
15:07Should Ukraine be a core part of it?
15:08We heard from the Ukrainians saying the Europeans will need us more than, at this point, we need them on
15:13the technology advancement.
15:14Should we get them in this context?
15:15Ukraine has been already a part of this.
15:18Ukraine has been sharing latest state-of-the-art drone technologies they have developed through experimenting with them every day
15:28on the front line.
15:32Yeah, and finally, Shona, you interviewed the U.S. ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whittaker, a close ally of President Trump.
15:42And if we say that Trump is critical towards the European Union, that would be an understatement, as we all
15:50know.
15:50Now, listen to what Whittaker said at the summit.
15:54Typically, these hybrid actions, as they're happening or after they happen, can't be determined who is behind it.
16:02That only comes through investigation by oftentimes law enforcement and judicial processes, together with, you know, intelligence agencies working together.
16:13And at the same time, we're coordinating with allies and coordinating with NATO.
16:18And we were talking about it at the table at the NAC.
16:21So I think that is, right now, a pretty good model for how to address these.
16:28And, you know, everyone wants sort of some line in the sand that says, if this happens, then sort of
16:36that means we invoke Article 5.
16:38But, you know, Article 5 is really ultimately intentionally vague.
16:42But the bottom line is, let's ask why.
16:45Why is this happening?
16:46It's happening mainly to deter NATO and allies from supporting Ukraine, from, you know, supporting other efforts that the allies
16:57and members of the alliance want to support.
17:01And so, you know, that just means we should lean in more as to what we're doing.
17:04We should not be deterred.
17:06And I also think it just means we need to invest.
17:09The reason that we made the 5% commitment at The Hague was, in addition to, you know, hard military
17:16power, we also identified the need for resilience.
17:20In the next few months, we'll hear the results of the U.S. Force Posture Review due by December, we
17:27believe.
17:28But we've heard some leaks that it could be as many as 25,000 to 40,000 troops withdrawn from
17:33NATO territory.
17:34Can you give us a bit of clarity about that?
17:35We have reaffirmed over and over the nuclear umbrella that we provide to NATO and our allies.
17:42We have continued to say that we're going to stay engaged in Europe.
17:46This is a, not only is it a forced posture review, it is also a forced posture in basing review.
17:52And so we're looking at the issues about access basing and overflight, some of which were a little clunky during
18:00Epic Fury.
18:00So, I mean, there's a lot going on right now to make sure that, importantly, in an America first, you
18:08know, sort of from a U.S. ambassador standpoint,
18:11America first means that we look at it from what's in the interest of the United States of America and
18:17its people and its taxpayers.
18:18And so we are doing that right now.
18:20We're saying, you know, what is the value of our basing?
18:23Is it what we thought it was?
18:26And we're just doing a very kind of mathematical, mechanical analysis of how we're laid down globally, because we have
18:35to address global challenges.
18:37Our allies expect that out of us to be able to do that.
18:44All right, Shauna, so we had Franken, Radev, Whittaker, who was your favorite?
18:48Oh, well, obviously, Matthew Whittaker was my, the one that was interested in most.
18:53I know, they're all very good.
18:53I think there's a few things that we can point out.
18:55The first thing from the Belgian defense minister, air defense, air defense, air defense, the scarcity of air defense globally,
19:02mainly as a result of the United States burning through its stockpile because of the war in Iran.
19:06But also Ukraine is therefore suffering, as we know, day to day by these air attacks, drone attacks, ballistic missile
19:14attacks from Russia.
19:15That's a real problem.
19:16At the summit yesterday, we did have an amazing moment from Firepoint, which is a Ukrainian organization that's trying to
19:22create their own Ukrainian made air defenses, interceptors.
19:26But that won't be on the market for another year or so.
19:28The other piece is I think there's a lack of consensus about how NATO should respond to these below threshold
19:34hybrid attacks that we're seeing.
19:35The Baltics, much more confrontational about it.
19:38The United States, Mark Rutte saying less so.
19:40Right, lack of consensus also about the nuclear threat.
19:43So Mark Rutte was very clear.
19:46There is no real threat.
19:47Indeed.
19:48But the Bulgarians had a different threat.
19:51They're definitely intimidated by this nuclear threat from Moscow.
19:54And of course, Matthew Whittaker then not being too clear about what's going to happen in relation to U.S.
19:59troops in Asia Territory.
20:00All right, Shona, thank you so much for coming on this morning.
20:03And that does it for us today.
20:05Thank you for watching.
20:06I'm Stefan Grobe and I see you tomorrow.
20:08We'll see you tomorrow.