Trump says US would protect NATO allies, recognizing that 'they love their countries'

Time of India

6 hours ago

Two words came up again and again around NATO's annual summit this week: Article 5.
Over the years, President Donald Trump has suggested that his backing for other allies under NATO's collective security guarantee would depend on whether U.S. allies are spending enough on defense.
As a candidate in 2016, Trump suggested that he as president would not necessarily heed the alliance's mutual defense guarantee. In March this year, he expressed uncertainty that NATO would come to the United States' defense if needed.
But on Wednesday, after he and his NATO counterparts had jointly underlined their "ironclad commitment" to come to each other's aid if attacked, Trump appeared to have changed his tune.
"They want to protect their country, and they need the United States, and without the United States, it's not going to be the same," he told reporters in The Hague.
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"I left there saying that these people really love their countries. It's not a rip off. And we're here to help them protect their country," he said.
What Article 5 says Article 5 is the foundation stone on which the 32-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization is built. It states that an armed attack against one or more of the members shall be considered an attack against all members.
It also states that if such an armed attack occurs, each member would take, individually and in concert with others, "such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.''
That security guarantee is the reason previously neutral Finland and Sweden sought to join NATO after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and why Ukraine itself and other countries in Europe also want in.
When it has been invoked Article 5 was only invoked once, in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States, paving the way for NATO's biggest ever operation in Afghanistan.
But NATO allies have also taken collective defense measures, including joining the U.S. to fight the Islamic State group in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as help keep the peace in the Balkans.
The Three Musketeers-like pledge of all for one, one for all, is at the heart of NATO's deterrent effect. To question it too loudly might invite an adversary to test it. European officials have said that Russia is planning to do just that.
The impact of Article 5 on Ukraine NATO's credibility hinges on Article 5 and its commitment to offer membership to any European country that can contribute to security in Europe and North America.
But Ukraine, currently in the middle of war with Russia, might oblige all 32 member countries to spring to its defense militarily, potentially igniting a wider war with a nuclear-armed country. Trump is vetoing its membership for the foreseeable future.
Article 5 becomes problematic when the territory of a member is unclear. For instance, Russian forces entered Georgia in August 2008, a few months after NATO leaders first promised the country it would join, along with Ukraine.
Georgia's NATO application is still pending but seems unlikely for many years. Russia continues to occupy large swaths of Ukraine and other parts are contested, meaning that its borders cannot be easily defined.