US Foreign Minister Marco Rubio On Thursday will arrive for the first time at the NATO Foreign Ministry meeting in Brussels.
According to diplomatic sources, Rubio is expected to have concrete answers to many questions about the US line in NATO.
President Donald Trump And the speeches of his administration have raised many issues in the European NATO Allies, including the burden of the union and whether the United States is committed to NATO and its joint defense.
Does the additional increase apply to the United States?
In connection with the burden distribution, NATO countries agreed in 2014 that defense expenditure should reach at least 2 % of Member States’ GDP. Currently, 23 from 32 NATO countries reach 23 percent.
Trump has claimed that the United States carries a disproportionately large part of NATO’s defense. He has also suggested that the defense spending target should be 5 % of GDP.
The European NATO countries and Canada want to know what the US defense spending target really is and whether it also applies to the United States.
The new level of defense expenditure is being made to find a “some kind of consensus” among the NATO countries by the NATO summit next summer in the Hague.
NATO sources estimate that the target will reach 3-3.5 %, but you do not want to talk about more detailed numbers until the US view is known. What is also important is the schedule of the defense expenditure.
“A dangerous game”
An open question is also the pace of the United States to start to take more responsibility for its own defense and how to ensure that Europe does not generate a security gap during a possible transitional period.
The plans of Trump’s new administration are known for the time being that the United States assumes European countries will bear the main responsibility for the conventional defense of NATO in Europe within 10 to 15 years. The matter was announced by the Minister of Defense, Pete Hegseth At the NATO Defense Ministry meeting in February.
The European NATO countries hope that the United States will remain in European defense for as long as possible and with a strong contribution.
If the United States begins to transfer defense responsibility to Europe, in that case, the European NATO countries want a road map to ensure that the transition period is smooth.
“We are worried that there will be a security gap if this is not properly synchronized,” said a NATO diplomat.
European NATO unions also want to know if the United States is committed to NATO’s collective defense.
President Trump has said that the United States does not protect countries that have “neglected” their charges if attacked.
NATO Allies want to know if the United States really intends to condition Article 5 of the collective aid.
“The comments heard from the United States raise questions inside NATO, but they are also listened to in the Kremlin. This is a dangerous game,” says NATO Diplomat.
Rutte’s “impossible task”
NATO Secretary General.
Mark Rutte will host the NATO Foreign Ministry Meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. Archive picture.
Transatlantic ally relationships are also rubbed by the trade war and the fact that Trump has threatened to take NATO country from Denmark Greenland.
At the NATO meeting, the United States also wants to hear concrete on supporting Ukraine and how the Trump administration is about NATO’s biggest threat, Russia.
According to the NATO diplomat, the US line of Ukraine is currently marked by trading, in which war and the aid given must benefit the United States, while Europe emphasizes the principles of international law.
An open question is also whether the United States wants to continue cooperating within NATO structures to respond to the safety challenges of China, Russia and Iran and to deepen the indopacitis cooperation.
NATO’s NATO Secretary General on Thursday and Friday in Brussels Mark Ruttelladescribed as being a “impossible task” when he tries to keep the United States in NATO and the union strong.
“NATO is challenged both inside and out.
However, he praises Secretary -General Rutte’s practical way between the United States and Europe, and the company keeps NATO strong and united.