NATO insists that it is united at the end of a raucous summit and divider

BRUSSELS – At the end of a roller coaster The NATO Summit, the 29 member countries of the military alliance pledged to maintain unity and unity to maintain their commitment to boost defense spending despite the harsh criticism of US President Donald Trump. If he wanted it, he admitted that "it was not necessary" because he felt that his ruthless hectoration had forced other countries to spend more than the goal. long-term NATO 2% of GDP for defense

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Trump called it "a fantastic meeting," speaking at a press conference Thursday before flying to Britain.

Some NATO allies did not exactly hear the same conclusions as Trump aroun. French President Emmanuel Macron immediately poured cold water on Trump 's spending ambitions for other allies.

"There is a press release that was released yesterday, which is very detailed," Macron said. "This confirms the goal of 2% by 2024. That's all."

Eventually, the leaders left with a clumsy consensus, after hours Trump had been so aggressive in his approach with his allies that reports went around. "President Trump has never, at any time, publicly or privately, threatened to withdraw from NATO," Macron told reporters.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the main target of Trump. noisy days. He accused his nation of being beholden and "captive" to Russia for a pipeline deal while presiding over an economy that seeks to scam the United States.

Thursday afternoon, she remained imperturbable and unflappable as ever She told the press in Brussels that "the commitment of all to NATO was clear".

She stated that Trump had mentioned better burden-sharing and more spending from Germany "as has been discussed for months". Trump has repeatedly attacked Germany for failing to spend a sizeable proportion of its gross domestic product on defense.

Merkel, for one, pointed out that Germany is NATO.

Tensions increased on the last day of the two-day summit, when members met during an emergency session while Trump called for an acceleration of military spending

for far too much of NATO, "T

In the end though, Trump said that the military alliance is" very unified, very strong, no problem. "

For an organization that Trump called" obsolete, "he said Thursday:" I believe NATO. "

On Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg insisted that Georgia would one day join the world's largest security alliance, despite the separatist ambitions of some parts of the world. former Soviet republic.He said that the alliance of 29 countries supported the territorial integrity of Georgia, including its sovereignty over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Russia and Georgia led a brief war in 2008, which led the regions to declare independence, and since then Russia has supported them financially and militarily.

Despite Georgia's important contribution to NATO operations, it is unlikely that the alliance will invite it until the conflict with the two regions has been resolved. / ee

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