NATO Sec'y General: Europe Shutting Down Refineries 'a Big Worry' for Defense

During an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that Europe not building refineries and closing them down creates a vulnerability because if Russia attacked a NATO nation, there would be a large need for oil products, “and that is a big worry.”

While discussing the prospect of a diesel export ban by the United States, Rutte said that he wouldn’t comment on the E.U.’s issues because it isn’t helpful if he does so.

Bloomberg Television Chief Political Correspondent and co-host Annmarie Hordern then said, “If you don’t have diesel, though, that could be a problem for NATO.”

Rutte responded, “Yeah. But there’s also another issue, which I can talk about, and that is the refining capacity in Europe itself. What we are seeing is no new refineries being built in Europe. We are seeing that refineries are being closed down. And if war breaks out, if the Russians would attack and we have to defend ourselves, we need massive amounts of diesel and other oil products for our F-35s, our fighter jets, for our tanks, etc., and that is a big worry. But, of course, that is not directly linked now to whatever is playing out between the E.U. and the U.S.”

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