A tough message from the USA to NATO: These countries will be rewarded

The United States plans to reward NATO allies that increase their defense spending and take greater responsibility for Europe’s defense. This is what the US ambassador to NATO promised on Wednesday Matthew G. Whitaker.

According to the NATO ambassador, the United States expects all allies to quickly commit to the goal agreed upon in The Hague last summer to increase defense spending to five percent of gross domestic product.

According to Whitaker, some of the allies, such as the Nordic countries, have already shown the direction.

“We have countries like Poland, the Nordic countries, the Baltic countries and Germany leading the way. Some are already at five percent, some have very plausible paths to be at five percent in the near future,” Whitaker said at a media conference on Wednesday.

At the same time, he pointed out that not all NATO countries perform sufficiently.

“We have some who are lagging behind who are either not spending enough money right now or who don’t have a credible path to the Hague defense commitment.”

Trump’s demand

According to Whitaker, the president arriving at the NATO summit in Ankara next week Donald Trump expect all allies to take immediate action.

However, Whitaker assured that the United States is not withdrawing from NATO, but expects the Europeans to take greater responsibility for the defense of their continent than before.

“The United States is not going anywhere, but we have global responsibilities, and therefore we fully expect our allies to come alongside, put themselves on the same level as the United States, and take responsibility for the conventional defense of the European continent.”

According to Kauppalehti’s information, the Trump administration is examining NATO allies even more based on how useful they are seen to be for the strategic goals of the United States. The Americans also want to deepen their cooperation with NATO allies that it considers beneficial to its own security and defense policy goals. According to information from Kauppalehti, this group also includes Finland.

Defense secretary Antti Häkkänen (kok) pointed to a development in this direction in June after meeting the US Secretary of War Pete Hegsethin In connection with the NATO Defense Ministers’ Meeting. Häkkänen said that the United States is having more in-depth discussions with NATO countries “that want to advance in defense quite seriously”.

On Wednesday, Kauppalehti asked the US ambassador to NATO if the US intends to deepen its relations with NATO countries that perform better in terms of defense investments than others.

“We believe that those who do more should get the benefits of doing more,” Whitaker replied.

According to him, there have already been discussions about what concrete benefits the Most Active Allies could get.

“People at the Pentagon and the State Department have been talking about these opportunities, whether it’s more time with leaders or priority procurement. There are a number of ways that could happen,” Whitaker said.

The NATO ambassador said that the United States knows that some of the allies are gaining a more prominent position in the alliance than before.

“Certain allies must take the lead in NATO,” he said.

Whitaker compared the United States’ role in NATO to the leader of the pack, or the “bell” that others have followed. According to him, Washington now also expects other countries to take the lead.

“I really look forward to certain allies stepping forward, coming alongside the United States and joining us in leading the alliance.

Whitaker was also asked how the United States plans to get NATO countries lagging behind in their defense spending to pick up the pace.

The ambassador reminded that increasing defense spending should not be a project driven by the United States alone.

“A little peer pressure from our allies would be helpful. It can’t be just the United States trying to push this rope uphill,” Whitaker said.

Europe’s concerns

There has been concern in Europe that under the leadership of the Trump administration, the United States will withdraw from the defense of Europe too quickly, leaving gaps in the defense of the old continent.

In the next six months, the United States is preparing an assessment of the deployment of its forces in Europe. The assessment is based on the Trump administration’s goals to review the United States’ global commitments and the appropriateness of forces and bases located in Europe.

Whitaker assured that the assessment does not involve political reward or punishment, but is based on military needs.

“At the end of the day, it’s a military assessment. It’s done by the Pentagon with the help of Eucom (US European Command Center), and it won’t have any political influence. It’s based solely on threats and US needs,” the NATO ambassador assured.