No protection for late payers?
NATO Secretary General angry with Trump
February 11, 2024, 4:00 p.m
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Even before a possible re-election, former US President Trump is causing concern – this time with his threat to withhold assistance from delinquent NATO members. NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg sees an increased risk for soldiers, and the EU is also outraged.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has sharply criticized former US President Donald Trump’s statements about not defending defaulting NATO allies in the event of re-election. “Any suggestion that allies will not defend themselves undermines all of our security, including that of the United States, and puts U.S. and European soldiers at increased risk,” Stoltenberg said in Brussels.
The EU and Poland also criticized Trump’s statement. There was initially no explicit statement from the federal government. The Foreign Office wrote in English on Platform
Trump said he quoted from a conversation with NATO allies during a campaign appearance in South Carolina on Saturday. Accordingly, the president of “a large country,” which he did not name, asked him whether the United States would still protect it from a Russian attack if it did not adequately meet NATO budget obligations. “I said, ‘You haven’t paid? You’re delinquent?'” Trump said. “He said, ‘Yeah, let’s say that happens.’ No, I wouldn’t protect you.” Referring to Russia, Trump continued: “I would even encourage them to do whatever they want. They have to pay.”
EU Commissioner Thierry Breton told broadcaster LCI that Trump’s stance was not new. “Maybe he has memory problems,” he commented on the 77-year-old former president’s statements. “In fact, it was a female president, not of a country, but of the EU,” Breton said, referring to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. In January, Breton himself reported on a meeting in Davos in 2020 between Trump and von der Leyen. He quoted Trump as saying, among other things: “‘By the way, NATO is dead, and we are going to leave it, we are going to withdraw from NATO.'”
Greens: Trump as a “burden” for the alliance
The Green Party’s security policy spokeswoman, Sara Nanni, told the Handelsblatt that Trump was erratic. “That made him a burden for the alliance during his presidency.” FDP defense expert Marcus Faber told the newspaper that Trump was increasingly becoming a risk to Germany’s security. “We have to prepare now for any election outcome in November,” he explained. “In concrete terms, this means increasing our independence in the arms industry.” Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that no election campaign could serve as an excuse to play with the security of the alliance.
The US Presidential Office also criticized Trump’s statements in South Carolina on Saturday evening. “Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and disturbing – and it endangers U.S. national security, global security and the stability of our domestic economy,” said a spokesman for President Joe Biden.
Trump is by far the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. He is likely to run against the Democrat Biden in the election at the beginning of November. According to surveys, they are actually tied. The age of the two men – Biden is 81 years old – and their mental fitness for office are playing an increasing role in the election campaign.