Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte met US President Donald Trump on Wednesday and made the case for the military alliance at a time when Trump has again criticised NATO and the Pentagon is reviewing the size of the US military presence in Europe. The meeting came as Trump renewed complaints that the United States carries more than its fair share of military spending within the alliance.
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Trump’s criticism has grown sharper since the Iran war, with the US president angry that some NATO countries did not back his call to help restart oil trade through the closed Strait of Hormuz. His latest threats to leave the 77-year-old alliance have raised the stakes ahead of the NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey next month, with Rutte trying to reassure him during his fifth visit since Trump returned to power last year.
In the Oval Office, Trump said of recent tensions, “they weren’t too nice to us in our recent little military skirmish”. Rutte responded carefully, saying, “I know there have been isolated cases about which you are really disappointed, but generally speaking, your European allies have been there with you.” He also said 4,000 to 5,000 US planes had taken off from bases in Europe before Iran and the US agreed to a ceasefire.
Rutte’s visit followed fresh criticism from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth at a NATO meeting in Brussels last week, as his department carries out a six-month review of American forces in Europe. Hegseth repeated some of Trump’s complaints, saying European allies had not allowed the US to use bases in Europe to strike Iran. NATO allies were not consulted before the US launched the war with Israel on February 28, and some countries have openly criticised Trump’s approach. Trump has suggested leaving NATO, founded in 1949 against the Soviet threat in Europe. Its mutual defence clause, under which an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all, has been used only once, in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
The Pentagon’s warning that it could cut its military presence in Europe to focus on other threats is the latest strain for the 32-member alliance since Trump returned to office. Last year, he also shocked European allies by threatening to annex Greenland, a semi-autonomous island that is part of NATO member Denmark. Earlier on Wednesday, the leaders of Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Poland met in Berlin to prepare for next month’s summit in Ankara, and Rutte joined them remotely. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the summit should send the message that “we will do our part when the conditions are in place” to support an Iran peace deal. French President Emmanuel Macron said, “we are in a moment of reconvergence between the Europeans and the Americans” and said he hoped that would continue at the summit.
Keeping the US committed to NATO has become a central part of Rutte’s role, and he has often used praise to ease Trump’s frustration. Rutte has credited Trump with pushing allies to raise defence spending, after Trump last year pressed leaders to agree to invest 5 per cent of GDP annually on defence by 2035. On Tuesday evening, Rutte appeared on Fox News, where he repeatedly praised Trump, called him the leader of the NATO alliance and said of his actions on Iran, “I’m completely behind him on this.” He again described the dispute over European bases as involving a few “isolated cases”.
Rutte’s style has at times drawn attention, including when he called Trump “daddy” during the alliance’s summit last year. He later sent Trump a flattering text message saying, “Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win,” which Trump posted on social media. Trump did the same in January with another message from Rutte that ended, “Can’t wait to see you. Yours, Mark.” Taken together, Wednesday’s meeting reflected both the pressure on NATO from Trump’s renewed criticism and Rutte’s effort to keep the alliance together before next month’s summit.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
