The leaders of the world’s most powerful military alliance clashed over personality and policy on Wednesday as NATO’s summit ended with an effort to paper over their sharp divisions.
Meeting outside London to mark the 70th year of the Atlantic alliance, the members vowed to stick together against threats from Russia and terrorism, and recognized the challenge of a rising China.
However, the bad blood continued to the end of the two-day get together, with US President Donald Trump branding Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “two-faced” after a group of allied leaders were caught on video at a Buckingham Palace reception mocking the US leader’s rambling news conferences.
Photo: AFP
Trump canceled his planned final news conference to fly directly back to Washington and into a political storm as opposition Democrat lawmakers issued a report calling for his impeachment.
Despite his anger, he appeared content with the result of the summit, boasting of having convinced his European allies to boost defense spending, and Turkey to drop its objections to the adoption of an updated defense plan for the Baltic states and Poland.
The second day of the meeting began with the release of a video showing Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte joking together about how Trump had delayed the previous day’s meetings.
Trump was furious and criticized Trudeau for not meeting NATO members’ target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense.
The buildup to the summit had been marked by Macron branding the alliance “brain dead” and demanding a new strategy, reopening a dialogue with Russia and refocusing on the fight against Islamist terrorism.
Afterward, Macron stood by his incendiary language, saying: “I am happy to have launched the debate, it seemed to me indispensable.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan withdrew a threat to block the updated Baltic defense plan unless his allies agreed to brand the Kurdish militias of northeastern Syria that helped defeat the Islamic State group “terrorists.”
Macron rejected Ankara’s call, saying that while he was sensitive to Turkish concerns about terror, he would not conflate “different political and military groups.”
Despite the rancor, the 29 managed to agree a “London Declaration,” and Erdogan withdrew his objections after an unscheduled meeting with Trump.
“In challenging times, we are stronger as an alliance, and our people safer,” the declaration said. “Our bond and mutual commitment have guaranteed our freedoms, our values, and our security for 70 years.”
The statement was the first from NATO to acknowledge the growing strategic challenge posed by China and it also stressed the need for a stronger coordinated response against terrorism.
It held out the possibility of “a constructive relationship with Russia when Russia’s actions make that possible,” but warned of the threat posed by Moscow’s deployment of intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
In a nod to French and German concerns about NATO’s strategic direction, the members asked NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to consult experts to strengthen the alliance’s “political dimension.”
Macron tried to shake up the agenda by demanding a review of alliance strategy, but Trump hit back.
“I think that’s very insulting,” Trump said of Macron’s assertion last month that NATO is experiencing “brain death.”
“Nobody needs NATO more than France,” Trump said. “It’s a very dangerous statement for them to make.”
Trump has defended Stoltenberg’s record of pushing allies for increased defense spending, but he reiterated his own long-standing complaints.
Only nine of NATO’s 29 members have reached the target agreed at its 2014 summit to spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense before 2024.
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