NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday spoke to allies about growing concerns that U.S. politics could divide the United States and Europe following former President Trump’s recent comments disparaging the alliance. I warned you.
Mr. Stoltenberg has argued that between the U.S.’s reluctance to provide funding for aid to Ukraine, citing partisan conflict, and President Trump’s continued rhetoric threatening to undermine the alliance, Mr. He encouraged them to take the initiative, but warned against fragmenting the transatlantic group.
“We welcome that our European allies are investing more in defense, and NATO has been calling for this for many years,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on Thursday.
“But it’s not a replacement for NATO, it’s actually a way to strengthen NATO,” he continued. “And we should not pursue any path that appears to be attempting to divide Europe and North America.”
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner hinted that on Tuesday. Given his recent comments that he will not defend NATO countries that are not meeting their defense spending targets, if Trump is re-elected, Europe should pursue its own nuclear shield agreement.
“French and British strategic nuclear forces already contribute to the security of the alliance,” Lindner wrote in an editorial in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “Donald Trump’s recent statements should be understood as a call for further rethinking of this element of European security under the NATO umbrella.”
Some French, German and Polish officials have expressed interest in Europeanizing NATO’s nuclear defenses, but Stoltenberg warned that this would further fracture the alliance.
“NATO has a nuclear deterrent that has worked for decades,” Stoltenberg said. “We should not do anything to undermine that. That will only create further uncertainty and room for miscalculations and misunderstandings.”
The debate began after President Trump doubled down on his comments attacking NATO, which President Biden called “appalling and dangerous.”
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown Jr., said Saturday that President Trump’s position means “the credibility of the United States is at stake.”
Stoltenberg himself condemned Trump’s comments, saying, “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our national security, including ours, and puts American and European soldiers at risk.” Stated.
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