Trump’s New Demand of U.S. Allies, Spend More In NATO Fund Or Else
Trump is demanding that U.S.’s NATO allies increase their defence spending and has hit out at the European countries as freeloaders.
A week before U.S. President Donald Trump heads to Europe for a NATO Summit in Brussels, he has scaled up his demands on his allies. Trump is demanding that U.S.’s NATO allies increase their defence spending and has hit out at the European countries as freeloaders.
In a letter, the U.S. President addressing leaders of NATO countries including Germany, Belgium, Norway and Canada, has demanded that they increase their defence spending to the military alliance. The letters were sent in June and revealed by the New York Times ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in Brussels on 11-12 July.
In the letter to Solberg, Trump writes, "Norway is the 'eyes and ears' of the northern flank" of NATO yet "remains the only NATO Ally sharing a border with Russia that lacks a credible plan to spend 2 percent of its domestic product on defense."
"I understand domestic political pressures, as I myself have expended considerable political capital to increase our own defense spending," the letter says, also asking for a "strong recommitment by Norway" to meet agreed-upon goals.
Trump also penned what one senior German official called a "not so friendly" letter to Chancellor Angela Merkel stressing the need for Germany to devote more resources to the defense of Europe.
The CNN reported that U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis has also sent a letter to his British counterpart Gavin Williamson, warning that the UK's position in the world was at risk of erosion unless the it upped its defense spending beyond current levels of about 2% of GDP.
The letter also contains a warning by Trump, which says that unless other member countries meet their requirements to NATO, the U.S. may otherwise consider a response, including adjusting the United States' military presence around the world.
But, Trump is not the first U.S. President to demand that the EU countries spend more. Trump’s predecessors Barack Obama and George W. Bush, both lobbied NATO allies to spend more on their defense. Robert Gates, who served as defense Secretary under both Obama and Bush, had warned in 2011 that the U.S. could lose interest in NATO if allies did not increase investment in their militaries.
However, a day after news broke of Trump’s letter NATO's European allies are pushing back against U.S. criticism that they are not spending enough on defence. In an email to The Associated Press today, Norwegian Defence Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen said that "Norway stands by its decision of the NATO Summit in 2014 and is following up on this."
NATO members are committed to spend 2% of their gross domestic product on national defense at a 2014 summit in Wales.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 04, 2018 09:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).