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US President Donald Trump intensified Tuesday his pressure on NATO members for them to consider that it is easier to deal with the main enemy of the Alliance, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, on the eve of an allied summit
NATO Logo (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in front of his new headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. EFE
The US President arrived in Brussels Tuesday night aboard Air Force One, accompanied by his wife Melania, to begin a European tour that will culminate a few days after the summit of the United States. NATO, at a meeting with the Russian President in Helsinki on 16 July. "Quite frankly, Putin is perhaps the easiest of all, who would have thought?" Trump told the press before boarding the plane.
The tension is felt the day before the important summit. Military spending is the main point of disagreement between the United States and its allies. Trump also took this Tuesday to reiterate his criticism of his NATO partners for, in his view, not investing enough to take advantage of Washington. In Wales, in 2014, Alliance members pledged to bring their military spending closer to 2% of national GDP by 2024, a traditional US call, and to halt cuts. in defense articles made during the economic crisis.
Many NATO countries, which are supposed to be defending, are not only running out of their current commitment of 2% (which is low), but they are also late for many years in payments which have not been made. Will they repay the United States?
– Donald J. Trump (@ realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2018
But, besides the United States, only four European countries achieve this goal – Greece, Estonia, the United Kingdom and Latvia – and three others could do it in 2018 – Poland, Lithuania and Romania – according to figures released Tuesday. In total, eight of the 29 allies. NATO members should express their "unwavering commitment" to the agreed spending targets in Wales, between 2% and stress that they will present "credible national plans" on its implementation, which that could satisfy Washington, according to the joint statement seen by the AFP
(You might be interested: Eight questions on the entry of Colombia to NATO)
Before d & # 3939; Arriving in Brussels, the US President went even further in a tweet, baduring that his allies would have to pay back "defense costs in the United States, whose military budget accounts for two-thirds of the total." NATO
The NATO summit, Wednesday and Thursday, takes place in a tense context between Washington and its European partners including Germany, embroiled in a trade war after several disagreements over the Iran's nuclear program or the Agreement of Paris on the climate, among others.
– "Mr. President" –
And, facing a threatening Russia since the annexation in 2014 of the Ukrainian Peninsula of Crimea, the European Union, through European Council chief Donald Tusk urges Trump to "appreciate" his allies The Europeans, who spend "more" on defense than Russia and "as much" as China. "Mr President, I would ask you to remember that tomorrow when we meet at the NATO summit, but especially when you meet President Putin in Helsinki, it is always worth knowing who your friend is. strategic and which is your strategic problem. "His words came after the signing of a joint declaration between the EU-22 whose member countries belong to NATO and the Alliance, in he who emphasizes that the "collective defense" of members pbades essentially through the transatlantic organization
(See more: "The entry of Colombia into NATO does not no purpose of war ": Santos)
This reference refers to a founding principle of NATO, which Washington was the only one to activate in nearly 70 years after the attacks of September 11, aims to appease the fears of the first military power on the plans of deve Development of the European defense sector The United States would also be agitated because its companies are excluded from military capacity building projects in the EU, but, as recently pointed out by a diplomatic source, Money from Europeans for proj European projects. "
The US ambbadador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, has not called into question this Tuesday the commitment of his country in favor of collective defense. Trump" will return to engage on Article 5, "added the official, especially as President Tycoon sowed doubts about him before his election in 2016. Beyond the summit of the organization, created in 1949 to counter the influence of the USSR after the Second World War, all eyes will be on the meeting in Helsinki between Trump and Putin, which NATO considers as its main threat.
Facing its threatening eastern neighbor, the 29 NATO leaders owe the summit its plan "30-30-30-30", whereby by 2020 the NATO must be able to deploy 30 battalions, 30 squadrons and 30 warships in 30 days.
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