The politician who managed the North Atlantic Alliance in 2009-2014 and was the prime minister of Denmark in 2001-2009, claims in his book “At Turde” (Polish “Dare”) that his greatest political mistake was the faith that Putin would turn to the West. “I was hoping for close cooperation,” he admits.
Former head of NATO about Putin: he was like a chameleon
Rasmussen recalls his meeting from 2002 with the then American president Bush Junior (in power in 2001-2009), who was to express his confidence in Putin. “Some officers in our army are skeptical towards Russia, they still think like in the Cold War, but I looked into Putin's eyes and saw a friend in it,” by Bush's words paraphrases.
The former NATO secretary generally assigns the wrong reading of Putin's intentions that “he always behaved like an agent of the KGB”. “He was like a chameleon, he pretended to be pro -western, but as soon as he felt that Russia was strong enough, he attacked his neighbors: Georgia in 2008, then Ukraine in 2014 and for the second time in 2022.” – reminds Rasmussen.
“After many years of contacts with Putin, I came to the conclusion that he respects only one thing, strong power, so it makes no sense to succumb to him,” says the former prime minister of Denmark. At the same time, it refers to the concessions of the international community towards Hitler's territorial claims, which instead of peace led to the outbreak of World War II.
In the book, he admits that, considering the main enemy terrorism, he noticed too late that Russia was preparing for confrontation.
Rasmussen supplies that the European leaders like the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, French President Jacques Chirac and the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi more or less consciously ignored the threats from Russia, fearing their economies. It was feared that investments in defense would not meet the support of voters.
In Denmark, Rasmussen is perceived by public opinion as a prime minister who contributed to limiting national expenses on the army. The current Danish government is trying to reverse this trend.
Rasmussen: Trump has only one friend and he is Putin
The former NATO secretary, referring to the American-Russian rapprochement after the return of Donald Trump to the White House, states that “at the moment it seems that Trump has only one friend in this world and he is Putin.” He suggests that the strongest democracies of the world, which Rasmussen calls a democratic seven, unite against the United States under Trump. This group is included in the EU, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand,
Rasmussen writes about the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine: “The path to its end leads through Russia's total defeat.” “Only Putin's failure can provide peace and stabilization in Europe,” he adds.
The Danish daily “Berlingke” wrote that the book of the former head of NATO and Prime Minister Denmark “should be read by anyone who is interested in politics.” The author of the review gave memories four stars out of six possible.
