BERLIN, December 26. /TASS/. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he doesn't believe the EU needs to move towards strategic autonomy from the United States.

"It is quite logical that we are gradually taking on more responsibility for European defense, but on the same side as the US, which fully supports NATO, remains in the alliance and in Europe," he said in an interview with DPA. "When we talk about Europe and NATO, it is more than just the EU," Rutte added.

He also recalled decisions made at the NATO summit in The Hague this summer, where alliance members agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. "I believe that to date, this is one of the greatest foreign policy successes of President [of the US Donald] Trump," he said.

Earlier, Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party (EPP) and leader of the EPP group in the European Parliament, said the EU can no longer rely on the United States and called for the bloc to be transformed into a "European NATO.".