NATO "has a problem with Spain," Trump said before the start of the Hague summit
In this way, the US president criticizes Spain's spending level and also avoids Trump's explicit support for Article 5 of A0NATO, the mutual defense clause of its members.
US PresidentDonald Trump today criticizedSpain's military spending level , calling it a "problem" within NATO, in statements to the Netherlands to participate in the summit of allied leaders in which he hopes to impose a new level of spending on the 32 allies.
In statements on the 'Air Force One' plane on the way to The Hague, Trump has said that NATO has "a problem" with Spain. "Spain does not agree, and that is very unfair to the rest of its members," he said in reference to the position of Spanish President Gobern to impose a 5% spending ceiling.
The US leader referred to Spain when asked about the new spending commitment that any leader will agree to at the summit. At that time, the tycoon has said that the US must pay the same as "everyone else," after criticising Europe for allocating investments to other infrastructure rather than military spending.
Article 5, mutual defence clause
Also, asked about his commitment to Article 5, NATO's mutual defense clause, Trump has ambiguously replied that it depends on the "definition" of that clause. Trump has said that there are "multiple definitions" of Article 5. "I'm committed to being friends. I've become friends with many of these leaders and I'm committed to helping them."
NATO SecretaryGeneral Mark Rutte has stated that there is no security in Europe without a "strong" transatlantic link between the Old Continent and North America, and has therefore called for the removal of obstacles and cooperation in the field of military industry. "We need to spend more to avoid war. We need to win this new production war. This is a summit on that."
On the other hand, thePresident of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen , stated today that the European Union (EU) plays an important role in 'uniting' the civil and military industries in order to strengthen NATO's capabilities.
The German conservative politician hopes that allied leaders, at the end of the meeting, will set "new historic spending targets for NATO allies."
"But how we invest is as important as how much we invest, "Von der Leyen recalled, stressing that the Russian invasion of Ukraine" has changed the war "and that it is necessary to" modernize our systems and respond to new technological needs. "
On the other hand, Von der Leyen has announced that "we have opened a defence innovation office in Kiev: we want to learn from the battlefield in Ukraine. "
Moreover, he has acknowledged that since the start of the war, spending on new European military technology companies has increasedby more than 500% , but has warned that "we still lack funding; we need to improve on that."
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