Allianz in difficult times: NATO follows Trump: Five percent goal decided

Allianz in difficult times: NATO follows Trump: Five percent goal decided

Alliance in difficult times
NATO follows Trump: Five percentage destination decided






Trump has prevailed: The other 31 bosses of the NATO countries are advised to drastically raise defense expenses. The cohesion of the alliance has limits.

Under the impression of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and at the urging of US President Donald Trump, NATO has undertaken to raise defense spending in an unprecedented manner. In the final declaration of their summit in the Haag, the Allies declared the new goal of investing five percent of gross domestic product in defense and security annually from 2035 at the latest – as much as since the Cold War. So far, the goal was two percent.

“Monumental Sieg”: Trump is suddenly a summit fan

A drift of the alliance, feared by many feared after the election victory, is thus averted. The US President, who is anything but a fan of international meetings and prefers to regulate things about deals for two, expressed euphoric than ever over a summit. He spoke of a “monumental victory for the United States”, but also of a “great victory” for Europe and western civilization.

Merz calls results “historical”

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) also called the summit results “historically”. In return for the five percent promise, the Allies now expect that Trump will leave no doubt that the United States will also be under its leadership for assistance in accordance with Article 5 of the NATO contract. So to the agreement that an allies can count on the support of the Allies in the event of an attack and an attack on a member is evaluated as an attack on everyone.

Trump now assured the European partners. In the future it will work “because they now pay a lot more,” he said of the relationship with the partners. “We are here to help you protect your country.” In the past, Trump had repeatedly sparked doubts as to whether the United States was still on the core agreement of the NATO contract – even before the summit.

The summit declaration says: “We, the heads of state and government of the North Atlantic Alliance, have come together in the Hague in order to reaffirm our confession to NATO, the strongest alliance in history, and the transatlantic federal government.” You remain united and determined to protect the one billion citizens in the alliance.

3.5 percent for the core area of ​​defense

The agreement on the defense spending specifically provides that each Member State will have to raise an amount of at least 3.5 percent of GDP in order to “cover core requirements in the defense area and to meet the NATO capacity goals”. In addition, expenses for fighting terrorism and militarily usable infrastructure will also be credited. This could be investments in railway lines, tank -compatible bridges and extended ports.

Germany wants to march ahead: 2029 instead of 2035

Germany wants to achieve the goal in 2029. This is how it provides for the medium -term financial planning that Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil presented and decided on the cabinet. Merz emphasized that Germany does this on its own drive and not to do Trump a favor. He emphasized that the suspension of the debt brake had made an important signal on the way to the NATO decision. “With this decision we also took on a certain leadership role that followed the other.”

Spain scours and dampens the summit euphoria

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised Trump in the highest tones. This achieves something that “no American president has achieved for decades,” he praised the Republican.

However, the summit euphoria was clouded by a deviation: Spain’s head of government Pedro Sánchez. He made it clear that his country can meet NATO needs even without defense spending of five percent of economic output. Spain turns 2.1 percent of GDP this year and can thus meet all requirements.

Trump then threatened Sanchez with punitive tariffs. “Do you know what we’re going to do? We are negotiating with Spain on a trade agreement. We will have it paid twice as much,” he said. Actually, the United States can only negotiate tariffs with the entire European Union. In the current customs dispute with the USA, the EU Commission speaks for the community.

Selenskyj only in a supporting role

The fact that the cohesion of the alliance has limits was also evident when it comes to Ukraine War. Almost all Europeans in NATO are firmly on the side of Ukraine and want to increase the pressure on Russia. Trump does not want to take part so clearly and thinks that sanctions harm of his own economy. Merz tried again on the edge of the summit in a one -on -one conversation of the need for punitive measures.

However, there was no other work session for the Russian attack war against Ukraine at the summit, unlike in previous years. The Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj, who was there as a guest, only had a supporting role this time. In the declaration of summit, solidarity with Ukraine is limited to the vague sentence: “The allies reaffirm their permanent national commitments to support Ukraine, whose security contributes to our security”.

“Irreversible path” of Ukraine in NATO

As a small success, Selenskyj can book that it was stated in writing that NATO countries can have military support for his country credited to her defense spending. It was recently handled in such a way, but Ukraine feared that this could change because of Trump’s politics.

Last year, NATO of Ukraine had given an approval of 40 billion euros and promised to support them on the “irreversible path” for NATO membership. The latter wording, which is extremely important for Ukraine, has now been omitted without replacement.

dpa

Source: Stern

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