NATO chief accuses Donald Trump of undermining allies' security

Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of NATO, accuses former US President Donald Trump of undermining the security of allies through the recent statement made by the former White House official in which he claimed that the US will not defend allied states that have not allocated the established amounts (minimum 2% of Gross Domestic Product) at the 2014 Glasgow Summit on the military sector and armed forces endowment.

In the press conference he held yesterday, before today's meeting of defense ministers from NATO member states, Jens Stoltenberg said: "Any suggestion that we are not together, that we will not protect each other, means undermining the security of all and increasing risks. (...) American involvement in ensuring common defense is essential to prevent an attack against an allied state in Europe, but a strong NATO is also useful for the US, because Washington has 30 allies on its side that help the US administration to be safer. It is a US national security objective for NATO to be strong, and that is why the alliance needs strong support in Congress. (...) A strong NATO is good for the US, because NATO makes the US stronger. American soldiers do not fight alone, but together with the militaries of allied states, and this has been happening for decades, from the Korean War to the Afghanistan War. I recall that the only time Article 5 was invoked on common defense was with the US after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to launch the operation in Afghanistan. And throughout that time hundreds of thousands of Canadian and European soldiers have fought alongside the Americans in Afghanistan to protect the US."

The head of NATO stated that the alliance is capable of preventing any military attack directed against any of its members and that NATO's purpose is to prevent war and preserve the state of peace.

Mr. Stoltenberg also said: "NATO has the capabilities and solutions to defend each ally, that's why we consider that there is no imminent risk at this moment regarding the threat to the member state, especially since since 2014 significant sums have been allocated for defense , the largest increase in funds in decades, and this was caused by President Putin's decision to annex the Crimean peninsula. The decision of NATO members to increase the budgetary allocation for defense was a response to the war started by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, with the annexation of Crimea. Moreover, the contribution of each state has increased, the number of troops sent to the Eastern Flank of the alliance has increased, as well as the number of investments in multimodal capabilities, all of which lead to a stronger alliance. We will continue to invest, to go to another level, to be ready in case an ally is attacked by a third state. (...) That is why we do not see any imminent armed attack on any NATO member state, but we see more hybrid attacks every day - cyber attacks and other types of hybrid actions, but we work against them by increasing the capacity of intelligence services and collaboration with civil society, to react in the optimal way to each challenge".

The Secretary General of NATO has shown that increasing the military presence on the Eastern Flank of the Alliance and activating defense plans is a clear message to Moscow that President Putin will never consider escalating the current conflict.

"The message sent is that NATO is there, with troops in Romania, in Poland, in the Baltic countries, that we support Ukraine and that we make sure that the conflict in that country does not escalate in NATO territory," said Jens Stoltenberg.

• 18 allies out of 31 will spend at least 2% of GDP on defense in 2024

The above statements were made in the context where today the defense ministers of the NATO member states are meeting in Brussels to discuss the situation in Ukraine, but also to prepare the NATO Summit that will take place in the USA, in Washington in July.

According to the Secretary General of NATO, the most recent data show that, since the Glasgow Summit in 2014 (ed. - when it was decided to allocate a minimum of 2% of GDP for defense by each member state) and until now, European allies and Canada have allocated more than $600 billion to defense.

Jens Stoltenberg said: "This year, I expect 18 allies to spend 2% of their GDP on defence, which is a six-fold increase from 2014, when only three allies met their target. In 2024, the European member states of NATO will invest $380 billion in defense, which is the first time the allocation has risen to at least 2% of their combined GDP. However, some allied states still have a few steps to go, because at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, in 2023, we agreed that the 2% allocation is the accepted minimum".

The Secretary General of NATO also said that today the defense ministers of the member states will discuss the increase in ammunition production, in the context in which in recent months NATO has negotiated contracts worth ten billion dollars and in which Germany recently announced that it will build a new ammunition factory in Lower Saxony, which will have a maximum production capacity of 200,000 artillery shells per year. The defense ministers will also discuss progress on the full resources of the new defense plans, which are currently being tested in the Steadfast Defender military exercise, in which around 90,000 soldiers from the 31 member states are training and working together and from Sweden.

Ahead of today's meeting, an online meeting of the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group took place yesterday, and a NATO-Ukraine Council meeting will also take place after the meeting of defense ministers.