Former NATO secretary general calls for military build-up in Europe

Europe has to drastically increase its defence spending, former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Tuesday.

Military expenditure should be raised to 4% of gross domestic product (GDP) or more, he said at the start of a democracy summit in Copenhagen.

NATO countries in Europe spend significantly less on defence, which US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized.

The two-day summit, which Rasmussen helped to organize, is taking place for the eighth time in the Danish capital.

Among the speakers this year are the EU's foreign affairs representative, Kaja Kallas, and former British prime minister David Cameron.

In light of Trump's policies and the threat from Russia, the focus is primarily on European defence and the future of trans-Atlantic relations.

In his opening speech, Rasmussen did not hold back in his criticism of current US policy.

"Today, the values we jointly defended are being replaced by words from our history books: territorial expansion, spheres of influence, might makes right, and of course, America first," he listed, without directly naming Trump.

Rasmussen was Danish prime minister from 2001 to 2009 and subsequently NATO secretary general until 2014.

With regard to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rasmussen warned: "I know Putin. He has his eyes on NATO territory. Our intelligence services tell us the same thing."

"We can stop him only be rebuilding our deterrence," he added. "Effective deterrence requires that our enemy realizis that the prize of aggression is unbearable."