Why should Europe hijack NATO for its own purposes Paul Taylor

cThis is a summit of five peaks. when NATO leaders meet In The Hague next week, European allies will sign a transatlantic bargaining that they pretend they will spend 5% of their economic output on defense, while Donald Trump pretends that he is committed to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, a common defense clause he has repeatedly breached.

NATO Secretary-General, Mark Ruttall his considerable political remains and persuasive powers are being deployed to form a brief “no surprise” summit, where fundamental differences over Russian war of aggression, trade, the Middle East and liberal democratic values ​​are deliberately ruled out.

With a U.S. president ignoring the interests of allies and skeptical of the coalition’s collective commitment, Rut has already drawn a path in the minefield to keep NATO commercial and work to support Ukraine An imminent expiry American weapons are provided to Keefe.

Diplomats say the summit will issue only a brief joint statement, rather than the usual comprehensive communiqué, centered on defense investment commitments Dedicated to 3.5% of GDP By 2032, a further 1.5% of core military spending will be dedicated to defense-related activities such as supporting Ukraine, cybersecurity, infrastructure for military mobility and resilience.

Although Nordic and Baltic and Poland may reach core goals, the reality is that countries such as Britain, France, Italy and Spain are It’s unlikely to achieve this goal Due to fiscal restrictions and domestic politics.

While leaders will recall their past declarations, NATO has not explicitly mentioned that Ukraine and Georgia will one day become members of Trump’s opposition. Just last year, Joe Biden’s United States register It is said that Ukraine The road to NAD members It is “irreversible”. Trump pulled the handbrake.

But at this hypocrite’s dance, European allies are not UkraineVolodymyr Zelenskyy, who will appear on the sidelines of the mountain, is interested in the showdown. Preventing transatlantic train wreckage is the best they hoped for.

Hastings Ismay, NATO’s first secretary-general, described the alliance’s goal as “to make Americans, Russians leave and Germans lower.” Keeping Americans safe in Europe was crucial when Vladimir Putin fought in Ukraine. Today, the Allies want the Germans to be the main defense spender. Some people will add another goal to the list: to lower the Chinese.

Hopefully, Trump can sign tougher sanctions on Russia or military aid to Ukraine gradually disappear. Europe’s supplies of weapons and ammunition were enough to keep Ukraine fighting in combat, but as the stock was exhausted, a huge surge in European defense industrial production was to make enough supply to Kiev.

Rut’s choreography aims to avoid Something disaster This marks the NATO summit in 2018, when Trump accused then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel Tell allies If they don’t spend more money on defense, the United States will “in its own way.”

European leaders are seeking understanding with Trump that, despite their strengthening of the military and increasing the deployment of troops on the eastern side, the United States will not suddenly withdraw its vital capabilities until Europe is ready to take responsibility. These include air and missile defenses and propulsions such as satellite intelligence, command and control systems, strategic air freight and air-to-air refueling. This burden transfer requires more than five to ten years of management transition, rather than a unilateral announcement from the Pentagon or the White House on truth socialization.

They also hope to convince Trump that if they want them to find additional defense resources, they can cancel the tariff war on Europe and Canada.

Whether Europeans can get so much in The Hague is far from certain. As we all know, when the camera rolls, Trump is unpredictable and prone to scriptless outbreaks. Rutte will massage his self and be praised for the massive increase in defense spending that shocked Europeans. Trump has eliminated fears from one of his allies Nominated for new supreme ally European commanderAccording to US media reports, the Pentagon is considering abandoning the NATO order it has held since its inception in 1951.

But European leaders must realize that they live in borrowed time, and that the focus of US security inevitably shifts to opposing China. They need to hijack NATO For your own purposes.

Diplomats call the building a European pillar of NATO. In fact, this means that European governments maximize NATO’s command chain, as well as decades of experience in collective defense programs and integration of transnational forces, preparing for a day they might need to take action without the United States.

If there is a ceasefire in Ukraine and a European-led coalition is willing to provide security assurance for Kiev, it is to provide security assurance for Kiev by deploying troops domestically or helping secure its air and maritime space from NATO territory. But before Europeans are ready to grab the NATO steering wheel, the best option is to extend and pretend.