[ad_1]
U.S. and Allied leaders work hard to choreograph a NATO meeting next week that would be a chart of unity, and show that the 29-member alliance is fighting terrorism, standing up to Russia and working closely to stimulate military spending.
Donald Trump
has already disrupted the mood and increased the stakes by warning European leaders by a series of straightforward letters that they are not doing their part.
"I understand the internal political pressures," wrote Trump in a letter on June 19. to the Norwegian Prime Minister
Erna Solberg,
which was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. "It will, however, become increasingly difficult to justify to US citizens why some countries continue to fail to meet our collective security commitments."
In Europe, some leaders inherited Mr. Trump's lobbying campaign. "I am not very impressed by this type of letter," said the Belgian Prime Minister.
Charles Michel,
whose government has one of the lowest levels of military spending of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in terms of GDP but who has promised to increase defense spending in the # 39; future.
Even before Mr. Trump's letters the NATO summit could be a rehearsal of the Group of Seven meeting last month during which the President reiterated his allies on trade to indulge in a warm meeting a few days later with a long-time opponent, the North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un.
The NATO summit in Brussels on 11-12 July will be followed shortly by the meeting of Mr Trump on 16 July in Helsinki with the Russian President
Vladimir Poutine,
a leader that Mr. Trump is eager to hire, but who is also the main opponent of the alliance and has long sought to sow divisions in the Western ranks.
"The president has been consistent in his criticism of the alliance.He thinks that the EU was created to take advantage of the US and that NATO is as bad as it is. NAFTA, "said a senior European official, referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement. "There is no reason for us not to have a busy NATO summit, we really do not know what will happen."
US frustration at Regarding the military spending of their allies goes back far. Following the military intervention of Russia in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, NATO countries promise to devote at least 2% of their GDP to the defense of 39, here 2024. At least 20% of these expenses will be spent on armament and enhancement During his political campaign, Mr. Trump has set off alarms in Europe when he has hinted that the United States could only defend the NATO allies who met. their military expenditure obligations. Mr Trump then sought to dispel the unease of the Allies during a visit to Warsaw in July 2017 by approving Article 5 of the NATO Charter which states that the allies will defend each other's They are attacked.
I hope that the Trump administration will support this approach by supporting a summit meeting that welcomed the Alliance 's progress on military and defense spending. adapting to new threats
"There is real potential for a strong and united message to the NATO summit," said a NATO nation official. the divided summit, Putin will see opportunities in that. "
Mr Trump, however, considers the summit as an opportunity to pressure the allies to do more and European officials see his letters as a threat barely veiled: if the allies do not spend more to defend the alliance, the United States may do less
"There is a growing frustration in the United States that some Allies n & # 39; Have not increased defense spending as promised, "wrote Trump in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister on 19 June.
Xavier Bettel
of Luxembourg. "The United States is increasingly reluctant to ignore the European failure to deal with shared security issues."
million. Trump is not the only one to put pressure on the allies. Secretary of Defense
Jim Mattis,
a loyal supporter of NATO, warned his British counterpart in a letter of June 12 that Britain's special relationship as the closest ally of the United States could be threatened if it does not "Not fully funding" its defense programs
The interest of our two nations for the UK to remain the American partner of choice, "wrote Mattis in the letter, which was reviewed by the Newspaper. "With this in mind, the UK will need to invest and maintain a strong military capability."
Some European leaders have recognized that NATO countries have not spent enough. Dutch Prime Minister
Mark Rutte
said last week that he was not sure if he had received a letter from Mr. Trump, but added, "I totally agree" that his country needed to spend more.
The Italian Prime Minister
Giuseppe Conte
He said he received a letter from Mr Trump, but sought to deflect criticism from the president by saying that Italy's contributions to Europe's security involved more than military spending. "Italy contributes, but not only with economic tools." In practice, we also contribute to strategic interventions for NATO. "
Italy has trained Iraqi police and is leading a headquarters for the international coalition forces in western Afghanistan.In January, it approved a military mission to Niger to support the government's counterterrorism efforts.
The Government German, whose military spending accounted for 1.22% of its GDP in 2017, and whose trade policy was often attacked by Mr Trump, He has little to say in response to his series of letters
"The German Government is in close contact with the United States on security policy issues. Otherwise, the German government does not publicly comment on confidential talks or correspondence, "said a spokesman for the government, Nancy Youssef and Vivian Salama in Washington, Laurence Norman in Brussels and Andrea Thomas in Berlin
.] Write to Michael R. Gordon at [email protected]
Source link
