[By Guancha Observer, Liu Chenghui]

"He is playing a bad hand!" Ahead of this week's so-called "Copenhagen Democracy Summit," Anders Fogh Rasmussen aimed his criticism at U.S. President Trump.

According to a May 12 report by Politico, Rasmussen harshly criticized Trump for significantly weakening the Western alliance. The U.S. has withdrawn from its role as the leader of the free world, which may force the EU and countries like the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand to form a new national group called "D7" to "resist coercion from China or the U.S."

Rasmussen served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 2001 to 2009 and then as NATO Secretary-General from 2009 to 2014. He currently serves as chairman of the Danish think tank "Foundation for the Alliance of Democracies."

NATO former Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen Politico

This former NATO leader expressed strong dissatisfaction with Trump's policy on Ukraine and Russia. He questioned Trump's recent efforts to promote ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, criticizing Trump for agreeing to return Ukrainian territory to Russia without forcing Moscow to make substantial concessions or lifting sanctions.

"Russia is playing games," Rasmussen said. "It's like a chess match to see who can get Trump's attention." Although Trump has clearly stated his desire to end the conflict, Rasmussen predicts that "the fighting will likely continue."

The report also mentioned that Trump's previous remarks about "possibly refusing to fulfill NATO's Article Five collective defense obligation" have shaken the confidence of allies. In February last year, Trump pressured European allies by demanding increased defense spending and threatened to let Russia attack Europe.

Rasmussen said he agreed with the intelligence community's assessment that "Russia may attack the EU in the coming years."

The "Foundation for the Alliance of Democracies," led by Rasmussen, recently released a report calling for NATO's defense budget target to be raised from 2% of GDP to 4%, and mobilizing approximately 400 billion euros in public and private funds to strengthen military forces. The report reflects how European countries are accelerating the revitalization of their long-underfunded military industrial system after the Cold War.

Rasmussen also made startling remarks, claiming that Trump's impact on the Western alliance might prompt democratic nations to reorganize their cooperation mechanisms, which could become "a strong force to resist coercion from China or the U.S."

"Since the U.S. has obviously stepped down from its role as the leader of the free world, this may create a new 'D7' democratic nation group including the EU, the UK, Canada, and NATO's Indo-Pacific partners such as Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand."

The report described that for someone who once served as NATO leader and Prime Minister of Denmark, these words were quite extraordinary.

In addition, regarding Trump's increasingly public threats to control Greenland, Rasmussen said that the people of Greenland do not want to become Americans.

He stated, "Denmark is one of the closest and most reliable allies of the United States... I am worried about this." Rasmussen emphasized that Greenland "is part of Denmark," and "the people of Greenland do not want to become Americans."

Evidently, the so-called "D7" mechanism he proposed is modeled after the "G7" (Group of Seven). The G7 has repeatedly made negative comments about China's domestic and foreign policies, and at this year's March meeting of G7 foreign ministers, they again interfered in China's internal affairs and commented on China's policies.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning emphasized that China urges the G7 to recognize the global situation, abandon Cold War thinking and ideological biases, stop undermining China's sovereignty, interfering in China's internal affairs, and cease provoking conflicts and confrontations. It should focus its energy on addressing global challenges and promoting global development. They should do more to unite and cooperate with the international community.

This article is an exclusive contribution by Guancha Observer and cannot be reproduced without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7504465676020285964/

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