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NATO chief warns member states not to allow a wedge to be driven between the US and Europe
BRUSSELS — The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) warned on Thursday not to allow Donald Trump to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe amid growing concerns about U.S. commitments to allies if he returns to office. member states have been warned.
In the face of a war in Ukraine that is draining military and financial resources, and with a wave of U.S. aid stalled by infighting in Congress, European leaders and officials say Europe should invest more in its military and new technology. He warns that we need to strengthen our arsenal. production.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, where he was chairman of the alliance’s defense council, “We welcome the further investment our European allies are making in defense. NATO has been calling for this for many years.” Ministers.
“But it’s not a replacement for NATO. It’s actually a way to strengthen NATO. And we shouldn’t pursue any path that seems like it’s going to divide Europe and North America.”
In recent weeks, there has even been talk of Europe developing a nuclear umbrella. France and the United Kingdom, staunch allies of the United States that consider NATO the world’s key security organization, are Europe’s only nuclear powers.
France has traditionally seen itself as a counterweight to US influence in NATO. It does not participate in NATO’s nuclear program group.
“NATO has a nuclear deterrent that has worked for decades,” Stoltenberg said. “We should not do anything that undermines that. That will only create further uncertainty and room for miscalculation and misunderstanding.”
President Emmanuel Macron insists France must remain independent regarding the potential use of nuclear weapons. But he said in December that France had a “very special responsibility” as Europe’s nuclear power and would “support” its allies and European partners.
Talk of a European nuclear umbrella has come from German MEPs, among others. But Prime Minister Oiaf Scholz and other security policymakers believe there is no substitute for NATO’s nuclear umbrella.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius dismissed the comments made by an ambitious candidate in the midst of an election campaign, saying the debate over Europe’s nuclear weapons was a “complex discussion” and should not be started.
Former President Donald Trump, a leading candidate for this year’s Republican nomination, said on Saturday that he would allow Russia to do whatever it wanted with NATO countries that “failed” to allocate 2% of their gross domestic product to national defense. He said he once warned him.
President Joe Biden has slammed Trump’s comments as “dangerous” and “un-American,” using the former president’s comments to stoke doubts among America’s partners about his future credibility on the world stage. .
Stoltenberg said these comments cast doubt on the credibility of NATO’s collective security efforts. Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty stipulates that all states will respond to attacks on member states.
“The nuclear debate is the last thing we need at the moment,” Pistorius told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday. “This is an escalation of debate that we don’t need.”
German Deputy Prime Minister Robert Habeck also said: “These big abstract discussions will not lead to success.” In an interview with Germany’s Welt TV, he also expressed skepticism about the idea of France’s nuclear weapons becoming part of Europe’s nuclear weapons strategy.
“The last thing the French want is for Europe to co-manage their military,” he said.
NATO’s nuclear deterrent relies in part on U.S. nuclear warheads deployed in Europe using local infrastructure. Although many NATO countries provide aircraft for use in a nuclear role, along with trained personnel, the United States retains ultimate control over the use of these weapons.
NATO conducts large-scale nuclear exercises every year to ensure its readiness and serve as a deterrent against aggressors, primarily Russia.
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Mr. Moulson reported from Berlin. Associated Press writer Sylvie Kolbe in France contributed to this report.
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