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Written by Andrew Gray
MUNICH (Reuters) – donald trumpLatvia’s Foreign Minister Krisjanis Kalin said harsh comments about NATO showed Europeans should take more responsibility for their own security, but said a transatlantic military alliance was still needed. Ta.
Trump has come under heavy criticism from senior Western officials for telling anonymous leaders that as president, he would not protect countries that are falling short of NATO’s defense spending targets and would even encourage Russian aggression. caused.
Kallins, a former Baltic prime minister who was born and raised in the United States, said in an interview with Reuters that President Trump’s comments last week were “unexpectedly sharp” but echoed broader U.S. sentiments that Europe should heed. He said that it reflects the
“Many presidents have argued for years that we, generally wealthy societies in Europe, should invest more in our defense,” Kallins said Friday on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Council meeting. He spoke while walking.
“Over time, the United States will become less inclined to feel the need to take full responsibility for European security,” he said.
Kallins said part of Europe’s response should be to continue increasing defense spending, a trend spurred by Russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2014 and full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
He said this week that NATO expects 18 of its 31 members to meet the alliance’s goal of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense in 2024, up from 11 in 2023. He pointed out that there was.
“Some of us have invested above the minimum amount and are planning to invest 3% and even more given the situation we are in and the real threat from Russia. There’s a group of people who are,” said Kalins, who shares a border with Russia. Russia.
Cullins said Europe still needs the structure and coordination provided by the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization to effectively jointly act because Europe is not a single military nation.
“We have many armed forces with different specifications of weapon systems,” he said. “Coordination by NATO will continue to be necessary.”
(Reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by Jean Harvey)
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