Interview – NATO Summit Feedback

Yesterday, I came with my George Kennan bible at FRANCE 24 to decrypt NATO’s last summit. Three main ideas if you don’t look at the video:

1/ When President Trump says “that there are many definitions of article 5”, he calls into question the guarantee that the US will put boots on the ground to defend a NATO member. This goes back to US diplomat George Kennan who argued during the negotiations which launched NATO (1946-49) that the US should only offer military assistance to allies in case of attack – no automatic troops commitment.

2/ So now the contradiction is growing: while planning more troops withdrawal in Europe, the current US administration pressures Europe to buy more US weapons. This was said indirectly in the NATO summit conclusions: “we will work to eliminate defence trade barriers among Allies”. Yet, how can Europe convince its citizens to spend dozens of billions on defense if that effort translates into jobs not in Europe but in a country, the USA, which is actually deprioritizing Europeans ?!

3/ Ukraine was sidelined at this NATO summit, though it is on the front line of the long global war that began in 2014. America’s military aid to Ukraine is on hold, Trump delays any decision on this matter, while all wonder who will pay for the annual €30-50 billion arms bill proposed by Ukrainians. Probably Europe, no?

Video link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htCTNSd-N2s