NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has praised President Donald Trump’s efforts on many issues that had been a source of contention between Europe and the US.
Speaking to Politico, Rutte conceded that Trump was right, noting that the US President’s firm pressure had forced European countries to radically review their defence budgets.
“I just like the man. I think what he is doing for NATO is great news. President Trump is basically achieving what, since Eisenhower, American presidents have tried to achieve, which is to equalise defence spending between the US and Europe,” Rutte added.
This strategy of public praise from the NATO Secretary-General is aimed at smoothing over Europe’srough edges in its relations with Washington amid US threats to reduce its military presence on the European continent and demands for 100% loyalty. Unlimited approval of Trump’s policies, which had previously outraged other NATO members.
Nevertheless, European allies remain sceptical about the US’s commitment to the alliance. Their concerns stem from the President’s past actions: threats to seize Greenland, doubts about Article 5 on mutual defence, verbal attacks on leaders, the withdrawal of troops from Germany, and the Pentagon’s sweeping review of its military presence in Europe.
According to the Secretary-General, the summit in Ankara will be significant and will lay the foundations for the investment of billions of dollars in key defence programmes. Over the past two years, 31 NATO countries have pledged to allocate some $250 billion towards new defence programmes and investments.
Rutte also stresed the positive progress made by European NATO members in building up their military capabilities.
“You have to build a NATO that is sustainable and therefore not overly reliant on the US – a stronger Europe within a stronger NATO, where the Europeans and Canadians are really stepping up,” he said, adding that other key drivers for strengthening European defence include the large-scale expansion of China’s military presence and the fact that Russia, China, North Korea and Iran are acting in concert.
On top of that, Rutte expressed his optimism that, regardless of previous disputes, NATO remains united: “I think the president has a point that there are individual cases where he is rightly disappointed, but when you look at the bigger picture of what the Europeans are doing, it is massive.” He added: “This is evidence that European nations have really been extremely helpful based on all these bilateral agreements to make Epic Fury possible.”
