Jonathan Beale
Defense correspondent
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NATO Chief Mark Latte (left) wants to give Donald Trump what he wants – higher defense spending by American allies
The NATO summit tends to be “pre-cooked” especially to present a united front.
Secretary-General Mark Latte has already settled on the menu for a meeting in The Hague. It avoids lining up with the US, the most powerful member of NATO.
The commitment to increasing defence spending by European allies is a dish that President Donald Trump hopes to serve. That’s exactly what he’s getting. Although there are inevitably additional ingredients of compromise and fudge.
The summit will also not be able to paper the cracks between Trump and many of his European allies trade, Russia and the escalating conflicts in the Middle East.
The first American president to mantras is not a huge fan of multinational organizations.
He was also very critical of NATO, even questioning the foundations of collective defense. In Trump’s first term, at his first NATO summit, he spent not enough on his European allies, and he was hoping that the US had paid “a lot of money.”
On that message, he is at least consistent.
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European countries are increasing defense spending – some for Trump, some for Putin
Mark Latte, who has a good relationship with the US president, has worked hard to give him a victory.
The summit will be held for two days at the World Forum in The Hague, next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Currently, the main discussion lasts for just three hours, with the summit statement being cut down to five paragraphs.
Trump is one of the 32 leaders of the Western Defensive Alliance, along with heads of more than 12 partner countries.
Dutch police are running the largest security business ever for the most expensive NATO summit, paying for 183.4 million euros (£155 million, $210 million).
The brevity of the summit suggests that in part it would respond to the attention of the US president and the aversion of long meetings. However, the short summit with fewer subjects under discussion helps to hide the divisions, more importantly.
Ed Arnold of the defense think tank Rusi says he expects Trump to be a star of the show and can claim that he has been forced to act by European countries.
In fact, he is not the first US president to criticize allies’ defense spending. But he’s more successful than most. Kurt Volker, former US ambassador to NATO, admits that some European governments do not like the way Trump has done it.
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Since his first term in office, Donald Trump has consistently demanded that NATO allies pay more for their defense
Europe accounts for only 30% of NATO’s military spending. Volker says many Europeans admit that “that’s a shame that he kicked such a kick on his pants, but he needs to do this.”
Some European countries have already increased their defense spending to 5% of their GDP. Most countries live near Russia, such as Poland, Estonia and Lithuania.
Trump isn’t the only one who’s under pressure. Russian President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine forces a response.
However, in reality, many NATO members struggle to meet their new targets. Those who have not achieved the 2% target have been set more than 10 years ago.
Rutte’s compromise is for the allies to increase their core defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, and an additional 1.5% increase in Defense-related spending.
However, the definition of defense-related spending seems very vague and can be pointless. Rutte says it can include the industrial costs of infrastructure, namely building bridges, roads and railroads. Rusi’s Ed Arnold says it will inevitably lead to “creative accounting.”
As expected, even if the new spending targets are approved, some countries may have little intention of reaching it by 2032 or 2035. The timescale is still unknown. The Spanish Prime Minister has already called it irrational and counterproductive. Keir Starmer ir could not even say when the UK would spend 3% of its GDP. The British Prime Minister has just said it is an ambition for a while in the next Parliament. However, given the UK government’s policy of putting NATO at the heart of UK defence policies, Ir Kiel must support the new plan.
The real danger is to interpret demand for increased defence spending as arbitrary, symbolic gestures, or simply succumbing to our pressures. NATO’s own defense plan also promotes how it will respond to Russian attacks. Latte himself says that Russia can attack the NATO country within five years.
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The Russian army is still running to Ukraine – and there is a risk that it could invade other European countries.
These defense plans remain secret. However, Latte has already set up something that lacks alliances. In a speech earlier this month, he said NATO should increase air and missile defenses by 400%. This is the shell of thousands of more armored vehicles and tanks, and millions of artillery shells.
Most member states, including the UK, have yet to meet their NATO capabilities commitments. That’s why Sweden is planning to double the size of its army.
The plan will be in great detail on how the alliance will protect the eastern flank if Russia invades. In a recent speech, General Christopher Donohue, the US Army Chief of Europe, emphasized the need to protect Polish and Lithuanian territory near the Russian enclave in Kaliningrad. He said the alliance saw its existing capabilities and “it was very quickly what they were not sufficient.”
But, strangely enough, specific discussions about the war in Russia and Ukraine are muted. The split between Europe and America is a major issue now. Kurt Volker said under Trump that the US “doesn’t consider Ukraine’s security to be essential to European security, but European allies are.”
Trump has already spoken with Putin and shattered NATO’s united front by withholding military support to Ukraine.
Ed Arnold says the controversial issue has been stripped of the summit. Especially to avoid splitting with Trump. Leaders were to discuss the new Russian strategy, but that wasn’t on the agenda.
Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky was invited to a summit dinner, but he will not take part in the main discussions of the North Atlantic Council.
Latte hopes that his first summit as executive director will be short and sweet. However, there is no guarantee that it will follow the plan as Trump is at odds with most of his allies in Russia, the biggest threat facing alliances.
