Former President of the United StatestrumpThere is constant talk of “not defending” Europe;natoSecretary General Stoltenberg said that as much as the United States is concerned about China, it is equally important for NATO’s unity and development. He also said that military spending by NATO allies other than the United States reached a new high of 11% last year.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will hold a meeting of defense ministers tomorrow and Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will hold a press conference ahead of the meeting today.
He first proposed the Allied forcesinvestdata. Since NATO allies committed to defense spending of at least 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014, Canada and European allies have increased military spending by a total of $600 billion. Last year, the growth rate of their military spending also hit a new record of 11%.
In addition, 18 of NATO’s 31 allies will deliver on their commitment to spend more than 2% of GDP on military spending this year. Stoltenberg said European allies would invest a total of US$380 billion. Looking at the combined GDP of the allies, it can be considered for the first time that the 2% commitment has been met. However, of course, there are still some associates who have not reached this minimum requirement and need to work harder.
Former US President Donald Trump recently criticized European members of NATO for a long-term lack of military investment. Stoltenberg stressed that “the criticism we heard was not directed at NATO, but at the allies who did not reach the 2%.”
He said NATO’s strength is not only important for Europe, but also beneficial for the United States. Because NATO has more than 30 allies, it is a scale of alliance that no other power in the world has, so strengthening NATO is beneficial to the United States.
Stoltenberg said: “The United States never fights alone. It always fights with its allies.” He gave examples from Korean War to Afghan War. NATO allied troops have fought side by side with US forces. After the 9/11 incidents, for the first time NATO used Article 5 of the Convention to invoke joint defense in the war against terrorism.
He said at the end of the press conference that the United States has long-term and strong support for NATO. “They are more concerned about China, and maintaining NATO’s strength is more important.” Especially considering the size of China, the United States accounts for 25% of the global economy. If it cooperates closely with NATO allies its contribution will be 50%.
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