Faced with an American president posing hard questions about fundamental tenets of the alliance, NATO members are trying to project a show of unity here this week in response to Russian aggression as they meet in the District of Columbia to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the bloc’s founding.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrived in the District Monday to kick off a three-day tour spanning both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Speaking Monday ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, the Norwegian NATO chief addressed the elephant in the room — President Trump’s demand for much bigger defense spending by major NATO allies, relieving what he says is the unfair burden on the U.S. to prop up the military alliance.
“Allies are really stepping up. Spending more — and better — on defense,” Mr. Stoltenberg insisted in a press briefing in Brussels.
In 2014, the 29 NATO members agreed to *spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense by 2024. According to NATO data, last year just seven countries — the U.S., Britain, Greece, Estonia, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania — met that goal. Romania expected to do so this year. The U.S. currently contributes to about 22 percent of NATO’s funding, and the U.S. pressure campaign is unlikely to ease even in the midst of this week’s commemoration.
“NATO is our strongest alliance in Europe, yet they have to pay their fair share,” Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Monday. “I do think they have to pay 2 percent of GDP, which they agreed to do.”
Mr. Trump and Mr. Stoltenberg meet Tuesday, but the atmosphere may be a bit warmer Wednesday when the NATO head makes a rare address to a joint session of Congress.
Even Mr. McCaul said the debate over NATO could use a little lowering of the rhetorical heat.
“I think NATO, traditionally, they’ve always been there for us,” he said. ” [It’s] in our best national security interest to have a strong relationship.”
While major allies like Germany and France remain well below the 2 percent of GDP benchmark for defense spending, Mr. Stoltenberg argued that European allies and Canada are adding $100 billion to their defense budgets and investing in missile defense, drones and modern fighter aircraft.
“After years of cutting billions from defense budgets, now we are adding billions,” he said. “And we have seen four consecutive years of rising investment in defense.”
Mr. Stoltenberg also announced that NATO has approved a $260 million investment in military storage for U.S. forces in central Poland. He said the investment, that will fund storage and maintenance of existing military equipment in the region, is part of $2.3 billion in funding for military mobility projects over the past four years.
Russia is likely to dominate the private discussions in Washington this week, as well as the fallout for the alliance from the Trump administration’s withdrawal from a Cold War-era nuclear arms treaty with Moscow, which raises the specter of a new arms and deployment race in Europe. Mr. Stoltenberg on Monday backed U.S. claims that Russia was the first to violate the terms of the ban on intermediate-range nuclear weapons.
Military reinforcement will be a key topic throughout the meetings this week, the secretary general said. The ministers will discuss NATO’s role in the fight against terrorism, and U.S. efforts to reach a political settlement in Afghanistan and the fate of the NATO mission there.
“We are in Afghanistan together and we will take any decisions on our future presence together,” Mr. Stoltenberg said. “We also stand together in the fight against [Islamic State].”
The terror group, he noted, “no longer holds any territory, but we are not complacent.”
He also touted the ongoing training efforts by hundreds of NATO forces to Afghan officials to prevent the resurgence of Islamic State.
While President Trump is not scheduled to address the ministers, the White House said he and Mr. Stoltenberg will “discuss the unprecedented success of NATO, including the recent increased commitments on burden-sharing among European allies and ways to address the current, evolving challenges facing the alliance.”
* Correction: This story has been updated to correct the U.S.’ annual contribution to NATO and the countries that spend more than 2 percent GDP to the alliance.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.