NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg rebutted the former US President Donald J. Trump, who is preparing to contest the US Presidency for the second time in the upcoming Presidential election scheduled late this year. According to the NATO Chief, any attack on NATO will be met with a united and forceful response of the 31 member bloc. Stoltenberg criticised Donald Trump after he suggested the US might not protect NATO allies from a potential Russian invasion who aren’t spending enough on their defence. According to the NATO Secretary-General, any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of their security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk not only on their land but around the globe.
Trump’s remarks came at a crucial period as Ukraine remains mired in its efforts to stave off Russian invasion and the House Republicans have become increasingly sceptical of providing additional aid to the country as it struggles with stalled counter offensives and shortage of lethal weapons and modern arsenal. Historically, Trump has been a strong critic of European nations, a majority of whom are entirely dependent on the United States or other major European countries like the UK, France and Germany for territorial security and national defence. However, the far right nationalist leader had always ignored the fact that although affluent European nations lack strong militaries but they massively supported the American agenda globally and bore political and financial costs of US military campaigns around the globe from Iraq to Afghanistan, from Laos and Cambodia to Ukraine.
Interestingly, Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues are wary of America’s monetary and troops contribution to NATO, however they forget that Washington was the biggest beneficiary of the North Atlantic Alliance from day one. The NATO umbrella protected the US’s interests during the Cold War, played the vanguard role in the Cuban crisis, and currently Americans are using this shield against Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Whenever this shield is broken, Washington would not be able to wage a single war against any nation, while American supremacy will face gradual decline. The Major European nations would protect their weak neighbouring states while the tiny EU states will achieve true political, trade and foreign policy autonomy as a reward.
