NATO Secretary General Acknowledges: US NATO Commitment includes Expectation

President Donald Trump and his administration NATO speeches have raised concern in European allies, Whether the United States is no longer committed to NATO and defending Europe.

Trump has said that the United States does not protect countries that have “neglected” their charges if attacked.

The President of the United States has also demanded that Europe and Canada raise their defense to 5 % of the current 2 % target of GDP.

In addition, the United States assumes that European countries will bear the main responsibility for NATO’s conventional defense in Europe within 10 to 15 years.

Trump has also announced that he wants to take NATO country into the United Kingdom of Greenland, a member of the Kingdom of Denmark.

“Hard language used”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte On Wednesday, held a press conference in Brussels before the NATO Foreign Ministry meeting starting on Thursday. At the press conference, he responded, among other things, to the Trump concerns of the European NATO allies.

Rutte admitted that “hard language has been used”.

NATO Secretary -General assured that Americans have repeatedly stated that they were committed to NATO and its collective defense.

However, Rutte said that the US commitment in NATO contains the expectation that Europe and Canada will spend more money on defense, ie first committed to and then up to the target of 2 %.

“We have to do this because of the threat of Russia and the growing threat to China,” Rutte explained.

Finnish decision

NATO Secretary -General was delighted with the recent decision of the Finnish government to raise defense expenditure to 3 % of GDP by 2029.

“Of course, I’m very happy with the extra cost of Finland,” Rutte said.

He reminded that, together with conscription costs, Finland actually raises its defense to 3.5 % by 2029.

NATO’s Secretary -General was pleased that everywhere in NATO now shows a similar direction to raise defense expenditure.

Rutte said that without a significant rise in defense expenditure, NATO would not have the ability to defend himself after five years against the threat of Russia and China.

Although NATO’s Secretary -General said he was absolutely convinced that “the alliance is here to stay with the United States,” he stated that over time, the United States wants to focus more on the indopaci -region and to respond to the threat of China.

“We have to be well aware that the threats are not limited to Russians. We see the Chinese strengthen. We see what happens in Iran. We see what happens in North Korea,” Rutte said.

According to Rutte, NATO summarizes his cooperation with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. These countries have also been invited to the NATO Foreign Ministry meeting starting on Thursday.

Embarrassing Greenland

NATO Secretary-General circled journalists’ questions about Trump’s Greenland threats. In this context, he emphasized the importance of strengthening the Arctic defense in order to respond to the increasing activities of China and Russia in the Arctic.

According to Rutte, Arctic cooperation is carried out with seven NATO countries, Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Canada and the United States.

While talking about the Arctic, NATO’s Secretary -General mentioned a separate icebreaker problem where Finland has already provided help to the United States.

“We don’t have enough icebreakers. It seems like a detail, but it is not. It is important, and in all of this we are working even more intense, Rutte said.