US President Donald Trump reaffirmed his commitment to Article 5 at the NATO summit, calling member states' pledge to spend 5% of GDP on defence “big news”.
He said this in The Hague during a conversation with the media, writes The Guardian newspaper.
Trump on NATO Article 5
Trump was asked about the US commitment to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to which he responded:
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“We are with them (NATO member countries, – Ed. ) until the end,” the American president said.
Article 5 is NATO's core principle of collective defence, which became the bloc's foundation during the Cold War to protect Western Europe from the USSR.
Donald Trump, for his part, acknowledged the progress of member countries in increasing defense spending.
“I have been asking them to increase the costs to 5% for several years, and they are increasing it to 5%, it is a big (jump, – Ed. ) from 2%, and many were not even paying 2%, so I think it will be very big news,” he said.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, sitting next to the US President, noted that Europeans and Canadians are gradually equalizing their defense spending with the US.
This does not mean an increase in the burden on US taxpayers, but rather an increase in contributions from allies. According to him, such a result could not have been achieved without the participation of Donald Trump.
