From the point of view of European NATO colleagues, all this went to plan: a small, a-hit and five-point declaration, a good group photo and even dinner with Dutch King and Queen. At the NATO summit in the Hague, what did US President Donald Trump do in good spirits.
He said that he addressed the press, Trump claimed to end the war in Iran and get NATO colleagues to increase NATO colleagues to 5% of his national GDP by 2035.
He praised the European members of the coalition “love and passion shown to his countries for love and passion”, but so he said that he needed America. He described the new vow as “a big win for Europe and for Western civilization”.
What in the announcement?
The announcement says that the Allies want to spend 5% on the defense, divided into two parts.
GDP will be spent on at least 3.5% difficult defense-in which weapons procurement and purchases up to 1.5% will go to other defense-related investments that increase military mobility and protect them from cyber attacks. In the next four years, the projection and balance of expenditure will be reviewed.
Nevertheless, not all members of all NATO are fully on the board. President Trump called Spain to refuse to spend and warned that he would pay more to the country.
Spain, Slovakia and Belgium demand exit
Spain is the lowest NATO donor at less than 1.3% and has agreed to meet the 2% target recently a decade ago.
The observers said that the political upheaval at home -the prince made almost impossible to agree to the 5% target for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Thousands of people were opposed in Madrid last week after a senior leader of Sanchhez’s Samajwadi Party, he was accused of corruption and the opposition called the Prime Minister to resign.
Sanchez asked NATO to exempt and said that Spain would receive military capabilities that NATO sought, but 2% of GDP will be sufficient for it.
Poland, which is a leader in defense spending and this year ELED announced the incense plan to 4.7% of his GDP, which is not happy.
“We believe that any deviation from this majestic by any member country is a bad example,” said Polish Defense Minister Valadisalav Kosiniaq-Community.
Hey there was a point. Slovakia soon piggibas on Spain and so refused to meet the target.
“There are other priorities in the coming years compared to the age of the Republic of Slovak,” was posted on X by Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxim Prevot told the local press that his country may not have done “like Spain, but I can assure you that they are working hard to achieve the flexibility system for the weeks of diplomats that can help to illuminate the burden of Belgium’s effort.”
Is Washington committed to Article 5?
But even though colleagues should reach a 5% target, there is uncertainty on the US commitment to the alliance.
On the way to the summit, President Trump stated that “many definitions” of Article 5 – NATO’s mutual defense section. After his arrival, however, he surprised NATO colleagues that the US was with the theme “All Way”.
Nevertheless, some damage control was requested. NATO general secretary Mark Rute said at the press conference, “Stop worrying.” “The United States is a total committed to NATO.”
In the announcement of the summit, the Allies re -confirmed the collective defense for “Ironclad commitment”, as attached to Article 5, “an attack on one is an attack on all.”
Christine Burzina, Washington DC-Besen German Marshall Fund (GMF) Managing Director of Giostreity North, who is currently in Hague to attend the summit, told DW that in a way, President Trump was correct. But it was hardly the right time to consult the nuances of the clause.
He said that when a colleague under the attack was left to individual members to select the limit of their support, Article 5 has been called at a time, 9/11 attacks on the United States were followed. “America has been the beneficiary of Article 5 and this is the part that President Trump must remember,” he said.
Over time, the US can dial its support to NATO, over time.
Rafael Los, a policy of European Council on Foreign Relations, said, “Later this year we can expect the US to consult allies on our global force currency – it can probably reduce military appearance in Europe and then European can focus on how those interval.” But he said that the good news was that America “suddenly was not dumping everything on European.”
Burzina of GMF stated that there was a conversation about Europe’s compensation for reduction in soldiers and assets. “It is possible that the US may deploy more Nukes in friendly countries as a preventive against colleagues.”
Edited by: Andreas Ilmer
