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Trump launches NATO meet with attack on “nasty” France
WATFORD, United Kingdom, Dec 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump
launched a two-day NATO meeting Tuesday with a blistering attack on France’s
criticism of the alliance and on “delinquent” members that don’t pay their
way.
At a news conference held to celebrate NATO’s success in cajoling European
allies to boost their defence spending, Trump could not resist lashing out at
President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron had tried to shake up the agenda for the London summit by branding
the 70-year-old Western alliance “brain dead”, but Trump slapped him down and
warned that he could see Paris “breaking away” from NATO.
“NATO serves a great purpose,” Trump said, at a joint press appearance with
alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
“I think that’s very insulting,” he said of Macron’s comment, branding it a
“very, very nasty statement essentially to 28 countries.
“Nobody needs NATO more than France,” he said. “It’s a very dangerous
statement for them to make.
Asked whether the US alliance with NATO was shaky, Trump denied it, but
said: “I do see France breaking off … I see him breaking off.”
Trump defended Stoltenberg, boasting that NATO members have massively
increased their defence spending thanks to his pressure — but then
reiterated his complaints about European spending.
“When I came in, I was angry at NATO, and now I’ve raised 130 billion
dollars,” Trump said, referring to the sum Stoltenberg says Canada and
European members will have added to defence budgets by next year.
“And yet you still have many delinquent — you know I call them delinquent
when they’re not paid up in full,” he said. Only nine of NATO’s 29 members
spend two percent of their GDP on defence.
Trump cited in particular Germany as falling short, spending only one to
1.3 percent.
Leaders of the 29 allies are descending on London to lock horns over
spending and how to deal with Russia in a major test of unity as NATO seeks
to assert its relevance.
MORE/FI/ 1654 hrs
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– ‘Brain death’ – If the Macron comments set an angry tone for the
meeting, there are also expected to be clashes with Turkey’s President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, who was also furious with the French leader.
“First of all, have your own brain death checked. These statements are
suitable only to people like you who are in a state of brain death,” he said
last week.
French officials summoned the Turkish envoy in Paris to complain while a US
administration official predicted that many members would tackle Turkey over
its purchase of a Russian S-400 air defence system.
Turkey, in turn, has warned it will block a NATO plan to defend Baltic
countries unless the alliance recognises a Kurdish militant group as
terrorists, Erdogan said before the summit.
It was reported last week that Ankara was blocking NATO’s new Baltic
defence plan, demanding greater support in its fight against the Syrian
Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
NATO has mooted a plan to bolster the defences of Poland, Estonia,
Lithuania and Latvia against a potential attack from Russia, though details
remain unclear. Macron and Erdogan will come face to face on Tuesday in a
four-way meeting with Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose
spokesman said he would be emphasising the need for NATO unity.
“We can see this as likely the tale of three egos,” said Amanda Sloat, a
former senior diplomat and a fellow of the Brookings Institution, warning
that Trump, Macron and Erdogan were the figures to watch.
The summit also comes at an unexpectedly awkward moment for Johnson, with
Britain in the midst of a frenetic election campaign.
Normally a summit like this would give the PM of the day a boost but with
Trump deeply unpopular among many British voters, his visit is a potential
banana skin for Johnson.
– Where next? –
The substance of the meeting is thin, with only one three-hour session
planned, where leaders are expected to sign off on a set of decisions already
taken by NATO foreign and defence ministers.
These include making space a full domain of conflict — alongside land,
sea, air and cyber space — as well as a new report on how the alliance
should approach China and its growing international assertiveness.
What is likely to be more significant in the longer run is the fallout from
Macron’s broadside, in which he complained NATO talks too much about money
and not enough about strategic priorities.
In response, Germany has suggested setting up an expert panel to look at
how NATO can be adapted to address political questions more effectively.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1655 hrs