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The Guardian
25-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on the Nato summit: Europe must take the path of strategic self-reliance
There is more to Nato than article 5 of its founding charter, but the alliance depends on that commitment to mutual assistance. Enemies are deterred because an attack on one is understood as an attack on all. That is why Donald Trump's record of ambivalence has been so destabilising. Nato leaders, gathered for their annual summit in The Hague this week, were heartened to hear the US president say he is 'with them all the way'. It was a stronger affirmation of the alliance's purpose than the one he had given the previous day. Asked about his commitment to article 5, Mr Trump equivocated, saying: 'It depends on your definition.' That implies some category of tolerable attack on a fellow Nato member. Such ambiguity invites Russia to keep testing the threshold with escalating campaigns of sabotage and provocation on the alliance's eastern border and at sea. But Mr Trump doesn't see Vladimir Putin as an adversary. He speaks warmly of their telephone calls. He doesn't recognise the Russian president's culpability for the war in Ukraine and has shown willingness to broker a peace deal there in terms that would amount to a Kremlin victory. His administration is resisting tighter sanctions on Moscow. By contrast, most European delegates at the summit see Moscow's extreme hostility to the west as by far their most urgent strategic challenge. Mr Putin's rhetoric and the state propaganda machine that promotes his agenda are ferociously bellicose. Ukraine's experience suggests it is unwise to dismiss such language as the stuff of empty threat. The Russian economy is geared to war. Europe needs to upgrade its defence and deterrence systems in response. To that end, Nato members have pledged to spend 5% of GDP by 2035. This is as much an investment in keeping the US engaged as a plan to supplement the shortfall if Mr Trump's support should wane. Previous US presidents expressed frustration with what they saw as European free-riding on Pentagon security guarantees, but none threatened to quit the alliance, as Mr Trump did in 2018. Such volatile unreliability has proved effective as a device for forcing European leaders to do something most recognised they needed to do anyway. Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general, pointedly praised the US president for his galvanising effect. 'Dear Donald, you made this change possible,' he said. The fawning style may be required when dealing with an egotistical president, but that very necessity reveals a brittleness in the transatlantic unity on display. Mr Trump's noncommittal caprice is not a minor character foible that can be managed with flattery. It is a function of his inability to conceive of truly reciprocal partnerships between states. He sees other Nato members as vassals and feels no durable obligation to them. He has no affection or respect for democracy and is at home in the company of despots. But he also commands the military power on which European democracies depend for their security, and will continue to depend for some time. There is no easy resolution to this tension, between reliance on the US and the president's inherent unreliability. But there is growing clarity among European democracies that they must expect to take ever more responsibility for their collective security. It is a difficult, expensive path, but the costs and risks of not taking it are surely greater. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
South China Morning Post
24-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Trump rattles Nato allies as he descends on summit
US President Donald Trump swept into Nato's Hague summit on Tuesday, with allies hoping a pledge to ramp up defence spending will keep the mercurial leader of the military superpower committed to protecting them. Advertisement Trump joined leaders from Nato's 31 other members to kick off the two-day gathering with a dinner hosted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander in the ornate Orange Hall at his royal residence. The alliance hopes to keep Trump bound to its mutual defence vow by meeting his demand for a headline figure of five per cent of GDP on defence spending. But Trump refused to say he was committed to Nato's Article Five clause and protecting Europe in comments that are likely to rattle his counterparts on the continent. 'Depends on your definition. There's numerous definitions of Article Five,' Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One. 'I'm committed to being their friend.' (Front, from left) US President Donald Trump, Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Dutch Queen Maxima pose for a picture with Nato heads of state and governments at Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters To keep Trump on board, Nato members have thrashed out a compromise deal to dedicate 3.5 per cent to core military needs by 2035, and 1.5 per cent to broader security-related areas such as cybersecurity and infrastructure.
Malay Mail
24-06-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Nato's billion-euro gamble: Why allies are bracing for war and betting big on defence
BRUSSELS, June 25 — Nato leaders are expected to endorse a big new defence spending target at an alliance summit in The Hague otoday, as demanded by US President Donald Trump. Here are some key questions and answers about the new target. What are Nato leaders expected to approve? They are expected to agree that Nato members should spend 5 per cent of their economic output — or Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — on core defence and broader defence and security-related investments. That's a hefty increase on the current goal of 2 per cent, which was approved at an alliance summit in Wales in 2014. But the new target will be measured differently. Nato members will be expected to spend 3.5 per cent of their GDP on core defence such as troops and weapons — the items currently covered by the old 2 per cent target. They will also be expected to spend a further 1.5 per cent of GDP on broader defence and security-related investments — such as adapting roads, bridges and ports for use by military vehicles, and on cyber-security and protecting energy pipelines. How big a leap will this be for Nato countries? Very big for a lot of them. Twenty-two of Nato's 32 member countries spent 2 per cent of GDP or more on defence last year. As a whole, alliance members spent 2.61 per cent of Nato GDP on defence last year, according to a Nato estimate. But that number masks big differences in spending among members. Poland, for example, spent more than 4 per cent of its GDP on defence, making it the biggest spender. At the other end of the spectrum, Spain spent less than 1.3 per cent. The US label is displayed in front of a seat at the venue of the upcoming Nato summit, in The Hague, Netherlands June 23, 2025. — Reuters pic When are Nato countries expected to hit the target? They will be expected to meet the target by 2035. The targets could also be adjusted when they are reviewed in 2029. How much more cash are we actually talking about? It's hard to say exactly how much extra cash Nato members would have to spend, not least because it will depend on the size of their economies for years to come. Also, Nato does not currently measure spending on the new broader category of defence and security-related investments — so there is no baseline measurement to go by. But Nato countries spent over US$1.3 trillion on core defence in 2024, up from about a trillion a decade earlier in constant 2021 prices. If Nato states had all spent 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence last year, that would have amounted to some US$1.75 trillion. So, hitting the new targets could eventually mean spending hundreds of billions of dollars more per year, compared with current spending. Why are Nato countries increasing spending now? Russia's continued war in Ukraine, concerns about a possible future threat from Russia, and US pressure have led many European capitals to boost investment in defence and plan to increase it even further over the coming years. 'Russia could be ready to use military force against Nato within five years,' Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte said earlier this month. Europe is also preparing for the possibility that the US under President Donald Trump will decide to withdraw some of its troops and capabilities from Europe. 'America can't be everywhere all the time, nor should we be,' US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier this month. What will the new money be spent on? Nato this month agreed on new capability targets for its members — the types of troops, military units, weapons and equipment that Nato says they should possess to defend themselves and the alliance. Those targets are classified but Rutte said after they were approved that the alliance needed to invest more in areas including 'air defence, fighter jets, tanks, drones, personnel, logistics and so much more'. Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte holds a press conference ahead of a Nato summit, in The Hague, Netherlands June 23, 2025. — Reuters pic Is everyone on board? Not quite. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says his country can meet its military capability targets by spending just 2.1 per cent of GDP. His government approved the draft summit statement with the new spending target but made clear it does not intend to spend that much. Nato officials say Sanchez does not have an opt-out — Spain's spending will be tracked and if it's not investing enough to meet the military targets, it will need to improve. Some countries that have signed up to the targets may also not meet them, diplomats and analysts expect. But publicly, they have insisted they are committed. Where will the money come from? Every Nato country will decide on its own where to find the cash to invest more in defence and how to allocate it. The European Union has moved to try to make it easier for capitals to spend on defence. The EU is allowing members to raise defence spending by 1.5 per cent of GDP each year for four years without any disciplinary steps that would normally kick in once a national deficit is above 3 per cent of GDP. EU ministers last month also approved the creation of a 150-billion-euro arms fund using joint EU borrowing to give loans to European countries for joint defence projects. Some European countries are pushing for EU joint borrowing to fund grants — rather than loans — for defence spending. But they have met resistance from fiscally conservative countries including Germany and The Netherlands. How does the Nato target compare to other countries' defence spending? Nato allies dedicate a much smaller share of their economic output to defence than Russia but, taken together, they spend significantly more cash than Moscow. Russia's military spending rose by 38 per cent in 2024, reaching an estimated US$149 billion and 7.1 per cent of GDP, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. China, the world's second-largest military spender, dedicated an estimated 1.7 per cent of GDP to military expenditure last year, according to SIPRI. How does defence spending compare to government spending in other areas? In Nato countries, defence tends to make up a small portion of national budgets. Military spending accounted for 3.2 per cent of government spending in Italy, 3.6 per cent in France and 8.5 per cent in Poland in 2023, according to SIPRI data. In Russia that year, military expenditure made up nearly 19 per cent of government spending. — Reuters
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nato drafts one-page communiqué to suit Trump's attention span
Donald Trump will be handed a one-page communiqué to sign off at a Nato leaders' summit, in an effort to avoid sparking a row between Europe and the US president, The Telegraph can disclose. The simplified statement will likely only contain around five or six paragraphs, detailing how the Western military alliance will meet Mr Trump's demand to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. The summit in The Hague will also be modelled on a similar leaders gathering in London in 2019, which was deliberately kept short because of the president's attention span. The one-page communiqué will be almost entirely focused on the historic decision to more than double spending on defence by leaders to meet new capability targets for deterring a Russian invasion. The Telegraph understands the document will brand Russia as a 'threat' to Nato, as well as offer a nod to the alliance's support for war-torn Ukraine. But it will strip out any mention of Kyiv's 'irreversible' path to membership, and remove any mention of climate change posing a 'defining challenge' to member states. Also, there will unlikely be any language accusing China of being a 'decisive enabler' of Russia's war against Ukraine. One alliance source said it would be 'focused on the core issues at hand'. It will be a stark contrast to previous statements issued by Nato leaders after their set-piece annual summit. At the 2023 summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the declaration contained 90 paragraphs. A year later, in Washington, leaders signed off on 44 lines of text, including statements on climate change, Ukraine, Russia, terrorism and the defence industry. A senior Nato diplomat said: 'We're going to go even shorter this time. A single sheet of paper and it should be five paragraphs long.' The conciseness of the statement is purely designed to prevent rows from breaking out between Mr Trump and his counterparts in Canada and Europe. European leaders have been barred from bringing up the issue of trade tariffs, in a further bid to maintain harmony with the president. The White House chief is known for preferring short, sharp briefings, with his aides deliberately keeping their memos to a single page of A4. A Nato source said the drafting process for the annual communiqué of Nato countries had been changed this year by Mark Rutte, the alliance's secretary-general, to make it more secure. Usually, the document leaks to the media in the final hours of negotiations between member states as the various commitments are agreed by deputy ambassadors and their staff. But sources close to Nato HQ said Mr Rutte had restricted the distribution list of the communiqué only to ambassadors, in an attempt to prevent it from leaking. The secretary-general has also cracked down on the 'Christmas tree' approach taken by member states in previous years, when national governments attach their own priorities to the communiqué. One example given was Spain's insistence at previous summits that the Mediterranean was listed as a key strategic region for Nato. The Dutch organisers of The Hague summit will also roll out the red carpet for the US president in the hope it keeps him sweet. There will be a working session solely on defence spending, with leaders huddled around the table. Mr Trump, a fan of royals, will also be given the opportunity to meet King Willem-Alexander at a dinner hosted by the Dutch monarch the night before the summit. Interactions between the US president and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, will also be limited, because of the risk of a public bust-up. A meeting of the Nato-Ukraine Council, the official body established in Washington, will be held by foreign ministers. There also won't be any meetings of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, which coordinates Western military aid to Kyiv, or the 'coalition of the willing', the Anglo-French initiative to police any ceasefire. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
13-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Nato drafts one-page communiqué to suit Trump's attention span
Donald Trump will be handed a one-page communiqué to sign off at a Nato leaders' summit, in an effort to avoid sparking a row between Europe and the US president, The Telegraph can disclose. The simplified statement will likely only contain around five or six paragraphs, detailing how the Western military alliance will meet Mr Trump's demand to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. The summit in The Hague will also be modelled on a similar leaders gathering in London in 2019, which was deliberately kept short because of the president's attention span. The one-page communiqué will be almost entirely focused on the historic decision to more than double spending on defence by leaders to meet new capability targets for deterring a Russian invasion. The Telegraph understands the document will brand Russia as a 'threat' to Nato, as well as offer a nod to the alliance's support for war-torn Ukraine. But it will strip out any mention of Kyiv's 'irreversible' path to membership, and remove any mention of climate change posing a 'defining challenge' to member states. Also, there will unlikely be any language accusing China of being a ' decisive enabler ' of Russia's war against Ukraine. One alliance source said it would be 'focused on the core issues at hand'. It will be a stark contrast to previous statements issued by Nato leaders after their set-piece annual summit. At the 2023 summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the declaration contained 90 paragraphs. A year later, in Washington, leaders signed off on 44 lines of text, including statements on climate change, Ukraine, Russia, terrorism and the defence industry. A senior Nato diplomat said: 'We're going to go even shorter this time. A single sheet of paper and it should be five paragraphs long.' The conciseness of the statement is purely designed to prevent rows from breaking out between Mr Trump and his counterparts in Canada and Europe. European leaders have been barred from bringing up the issue of trade tariffs, in a further bid to maintain harmony with the president. The White House chief is known for preferring short, sharp briefings, with his aides deliberately keeping their memos to a single page of A4. Crackdown on leaking A Nato source said the drafting process for the annual communiqué of Nato countries had been changed this year by Mark Rutte, the alliance's secretary-general, to make it more secure. Usually, the document leaks to the media in the final hours of negotiations between member states as the various commitments are agreed by deputy ambassadors and their staff. But sources close to Nato HQ said Mr Rutte had restricted the distribution list of the communiqué only to ambassadors, in an attempt to prevent it from leaking. The secretary-general has also cracked down on the 'Christmas tree' approach taken by member states in previous years, when national governments attach their own priorities to the communiqué. One example given was Spain's insistence at previous summits that the Mediterranean was listed as a key strategic region for Nato. The Dutch organisers of The Hague summit will also roll out the red carpet for the US president in the hope it keeps him sweet. There will be a working session solely on defence spending, with leaders huddled around the table. Mr Trump, a fan of royals, will also be given the opportunity to meet King Willem-Alexander at a dinner hosted by the Dutch monarch the night before the summit. Interactions between the US president and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, will also be limited, because of the risk of a public bust-up. A meeting of the Nato-Ukraine Council, the official body established in Washington, will be held by foreign ministers. There also won't be any meetings of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, which coordinates Western military aid to Kyiv, or the ' coalition of the willing ', the Anglo-French initiative to police any ceasefire.
