Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has hinted that the US could turn its back on the North Atlantic Alliance if Europe does not increase its military spending. The US will fulfill its promise to reduce its participation in NATO if members do not increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.
Points of attention
- Jens Stoltenberg predicts the potential collapse of NATO if European countries do not boost their defense spending to 5% of GDP.
- Investment in defense is crucial to maintaining US involvement in NATO and minimizing the risk of the Alliance's collapse during Trump's presidency.
Stoltenberg predicts the collapse of NATO
Even if there are no guarantees, the risk of a bad outcome must be minimized. Invest more: This increases the likelihood that the US will remain involved. If it does happen that Trump backs down, the investments we have made will be all the more important.
In addition, Stoltenberg does not rule out the complete collapse of the Alliance by the end of Trump's presidential term.
There are no guarantees that NATO will survive (the current term — ed.) US President Donald Trump.
Jens Stoltenberg
NATO External Secretary
Stoltenberg believes that NATO will not find itself drawn further into the US-Israeli conflict against Iran, but he did not rule out economic consequences for the bloc's member countries.
At the beginning of his second presidential term, Trump began pursuing a policy of forcing NATO countries to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP and criticizing countries that made small contributions.
The American president also distanced himself from helping Ukraine: on his initiative, America is now selling its weapons to NATO countries "at full price," and NATO is already transferring them to Ukraine.
Trump himself has repeatedly proudly noted that during his presidency, the United States not only does not spend money on the war in Ukraine, but also makes money on weapons sales.
The US president's frequent attacks on the European Union are forcing European leaders to confront a future in which America is no longer their main security guarantor. Europe is having to organize its own defense much faster and earlier than anyone expected. In anticipation of the US's shrinking role, EU leaders are already "testing" a European-led security system.
