Trump continues to pound Germany – DN.no

Should the American president continue his diatribes against the European Allies at the summit on Wednesday night, where does the alliance have to agree?

It was the big question of the first day of the NATO summit in Brussels. Despite the fact that Donald Trump began Wednesday calling Germany "prisoner of Russia" at a breakfast with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the Alliance managed to get on board. agreement on all decisions that were planned.

– The decisions we have made today show that Europe and North America are working together. The NATO book and we are determined to ensure the safety of our one billion citizens, said Mr Stoltenberg.

"Unacceptable!"

In the middle of the meeting, Trump left the room to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. When he came out of the meeting, he felt that the atmosphere was good.

– We have a very, very good relationship, said Trump.

But on Thursday morning, the tone was different. Before the second and last day of the summit, Trump was pushing Germany back in several posts on Twitter:

– The presidents have not managed for several years to charge more to Germany and other rich countries of NATO for their protection against Russia. They pay only a small portion of the cost. The United States is paying tens of thousands of billions to subsidize Europe, losing weight on trade, he writes and continue:
– Germany has started paying Russia, the country against which she wants to protect herself, billions of energy dollars from a new Russian gas pipeline. Unacceptable! All NATO countries must respect their commitment of 2% and increase it to 4%.

Wants Four Percent

At Wednesday's meeting, NATO nations agreed, among other things, to create new centers command and reinforce cyber defense. It was also decided that the Allies should continue to use two percent of the gross domestic product in defense by 2024.

Trump hinted that this figure should be four percent at the summit. Wednesday.

– Now let's start with two percent, Stoltenberg said when he received questions from the press after the meeting, according to NTB.

The NATO meeting ends on Thursday. On Wednesday, there were reports that NATO countries have already agreed to a final declaration. The same thing happened at the G7 meeting, but then Trump changed. (Conditions)