Since his inauguration, Trump has argued that fellow NATO allies have been leaving the United States to foot the bill for their joint defense. According to NATO figures, only five of the 29 members have met defense spending targets this year: Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Britain and the United States.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel hit back at Trump just a few hours after his remarks, arriving at NATO headquarters to say that Germany had contributed a lot to the defence alliance.
"Germany is the second largest provider of troops, the largest part of our military capacity is offered to NATO and until today we have a strong engagement towards Afghanistan," Merkel said, adding: "In that we also defend the interests of the United States."
The German Chancellor also addressed the accusation of Russian influence, saying "I have experienced myself how a part of Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union. I am very happy that today we are united in freedom, the Federal Republic of Germany. Because of that we can say that we can make our independent policies and make independent decisions. That is very good, especially for people in eastern Germany."
In remarks later during the summit, however, President Trump increased pressure on allies over burden sharing, calling on allies to double defense spending targets to 4 percent, the White House confirmed.
"I think we should first get to 2 percent, focus on that now... the good thing is that we are moving to that," NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg told reporters, without speaking directly to Trump's comments.
【国际英语资讯:NATO Summit first day overshadowed by tensions between allies】相关文章:
最新
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15