Former NATO chief promotes establishment of new alliance of democratic states

Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen advocates for a new alliance of democratic countries that can stand up to the US, if necessary.

Speaking at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit today, Rasmussen said he had always admired the United States and considered it the natural leader of the free world. However, he added that it now appears that US President Donald Trump is withdrawing his country from that role.

"That's why we need a new leader of the free world," Rasmussen told the Democratic News Alliance (DNA) news agency network.

In addition to the EU, the UK, Japan and Canada, Rasmussen sees Australia, New Zealand and South Korea as desirable members of the new alliance. He also said that the new alliance could be called the D7, in reference to the existing G7 (Group of 7) of leading Western industrialized countries, with the D standing for democracy.

"If we work together, if we join forces and present a united front, then we are a formidable force," said Rasmussen, who was prime minister of Denmark from 2001 to 2009, before becoming NATO secretary general (2009-2014).

Rasmussen said that if the new alliance is exposed to economic pressure and responds to it together, it will ensure respect in Beijing or, if worst comes to worst, in Washington.

To this end, an economic Article 5 could be formulated within the D7 alliance based on NATO's mutual assistance clause, according to which an economic attack on one member would be considered an attack on all, Rasmussen said, reported the news portal bluewin.ch.

Specifically, the pro-democracy alliance should, for example, define international norms and standards for the use of new technologies and reducing dependence on raw material supplies, Rasmussen said, adding that it would be important to invest together in countries of the Global South in order to create an alternative to Chinese investments.

"Of course, in such an alliance, threats to each other would be unacceptable," the former NATO secretary general said in Copenhagen, referring to the US conflict with Denmark over Greenland.

According to him, such behavior harms democracies around the world and only serves the interests of autocrats, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, reported the Swiss portal bluewin.ch.

"At this moment, my biggest concern is the unpredictable behavior of the Trump administration," Rasmussen said at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.