With NATO suddenly a hot topic on the American campaign trail, alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg sidestepped the broadside recently leveled by GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump, opting rather to emphasize the trans-Atlantic organization’s strong ties to the United States.
Mr. Stoltenberg, in a remarks to the D.C.-based Atlantic Council, diplomatically said he “welcomed more attention to NATO and NATO-related issues” in the U.S., but refused to engage in the debate over NATO’s relevance sparked by Trump’s recent comments or directly challenge the billionaire developer’s claim that the alliance may be “obsolete.”
Mr. Stoltenberg’s speech came as part of a four-day visit by the NATO chief to Washington, which included an Oval Office meeting with President Obama Monday.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly questioned the relevance of the alliance in recent weeks, questioning whether the Cold War-era organization is able to counter modern-day threats from extremist groups such as Islamic State.
“NATO may be obsolete. NATO was set up a long time ago — many, many years ago when things were different,” Mr. Trump said in an interview late last month with Bloomberg.
In another interview with the Washington Post last Saturday, Mr. Trump criticized NATO allies who, he said, have shirked their fiscal responsibilities, arguing that countries who don’t spend their fair share on defense should be removed from the alliance.
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“And if it breaks up NATO, it breaks up NATO,” he added.
Mr. Obama shot back at the Republican’s criticism of the alliance, saying at the end of the Oval Office meeting with Mr. Stoltenberg on Monday that NATO remained “a linchpin” and “a cornerstone” of American and European security policy.
Mr. Stoltenberg sought to build on Mr. Obama’s comments on Wednesday, saying a strong NATO is not a drain on U.S. resources but enhances American power around the world.
“A safer and stronger Europe means a safer and stronger United States,” Mr. Stoltenberg said. “NATO is as much an American organization as it is a European one … and only by standing together will we remain safe and secure,” he said.
He hinted Wednesday at a possibly larger role for NATO forces in Iraq in the fight against Islamic State.
“We should do more for Iraq,” Mr. Stoltenberg said, adding alliance members may increase efforts to train and advise the country’s armed forces battling the terror group in Mosul and elsewhere in the country. He said providing intelligence and aerial surveillance support to the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State was “on the table” as well, adding he had discussed the issue with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
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Mr. Stoltenberg noted that debates over defense budgets and post-Cold War missions were nothing new for NATO, but said that the alliance had been able to move forward at critical times.
“We are able to stand together when it is really needed,” he said, noting NATO’s operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. “The alliance is working, the alliance is delivering.”
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