Correspondence from the Netherlands. Details from the backstage of the “Memorable” Summit in The Hague: “This time I had a jovial trump, relaxed and satisfied” / what Rubio and Țoiu discussed

“This summit was much shorter, more efficient and more relaxed,” said the permanent representative of NATO countries, Thijs van der Place, for Hotnews, at the end of the two -day meeting held in The Hague, in the Netherlands, in which the Member States made the historic decision to invest 5% of the GDP in the defense.

NATO leaders were committed to increasing the defense expenses with hundreds of billions of dollars a year, to 5% of GDP, to thank Donald Trump, but also to respond to European concerns about the threat of Russia. In contrast, the US president reconfirmed his support for Article 5, the essence of the Alliance, thus responding to the doubts of the Europeans, noted Reuters.

Thijs van der Place was appointed permanent representative, in Brussels, of the Kingdom of the Netherlands near the organization of the North Atlantic Treaty in 2022 and, in its quality, was one of the organizers of this summit.

“And, in addition, it was memorable. Nobody remembers what was discussed at the Warsaw Summit in 2016, but everyone will remember that this summit was agreed by 5%,” said the permanent representative of NATO countries, for HotNews.

Thijs van der Plas compared this summit with the one from April 2008 organized in Bucharest, specifying that during that high -level meeting in Romania the negotiations between the leaders of the Member States were much more tense and it was harder to agree, which are about the support granted to Ukraine and Georgia for NATO accession.

“This time I had a Donald Trump Jovial, relaxed and satisfied that he managed to obtain the 5% of GDP” as expenses invested in defense by each member country, said Thijs van der Plan.

Journalists and officials present at the Hague Summit noted that Trump was like a kind of amphitrion of the event. The US president spoke with as many leaders as possible and shook hands with everyone, including Romanian President Nicușor Dan.

In a series of images published by the Presidential Administration in Bucharest, behind Donald Trump was seen, partially masked, Ionuț Mosteanu, the new Minister of Defense, and behind the Romanian president was Anti Häkkänen, the Minister of Defense of Finland, who were waiting for the moment of the hands. Behind the Finnish minister were waiting for other European officials to greet the US president.

The Presidential Administration also published a photo in which Nicușor Dan was shaking the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Next to the two was Oana Țoiu, the new head of Romanian diplomacy.

The decisions of the NATO summit

NATO leaders on Wednesday held the significant increase in defense expenses on Wednesday, at the request of the American leader, and reaffirmed their commitment to defend each other in case of attack.

While Trump obtained exactly what he wanted from the Short Summit, specially organized for him, his NATO allies said they were satisfied that he committed to respect the fundamental principle of collective defense, after the less clear statements on Tuesday.

In a five-point statement, NATO approved an ambitious defense expenses, 5% of GDP by 2035-a response not only to Trump, but also to Europeans that Russia is an increasing threat to their security after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The brief statement of the 32 allies added: “We reaffirm our firm commitment to collective defense, as consecrated in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty – that an attack on one of us is an attack on all.”

Prayed to clarify his own position compared to Article 5, Trump said: “I agree with him. That's why I do here. If I didn't agree with him, I wouldn't be here.”

Analysts and commentators also notice that the final statement is the shortest statement of a North Atlantic Alliance summit so far.

Russia was once mentioned in the Hague summit statement. Ukraine once. And the war was not mentioned.

According to official sources consulted by Hotnews, the mention of Russia was put only after all the members of the Alliance, except Spain, agreed the percentage of 5% of GDP for defense.

Nicușor Dan discussed “Police issues” with Trump

The Romanian president commented on the moment he met in The Hague with Donald Trump, for the first time face to face. He said that the discussion was limited “only to politeness issues”, but that he spoke more with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Nicușor Dan made these statements in a press conference organized after the NATO summit in The Hague, where the correspondent HotNews Laurențiu Ungureanu is.

According to images distributed by the Presidential Administration, Nicușor Dan and Donald Trump have shaken their hands and changed a few words at the meeting of the state and government heads of NATO in The Hague.

Asked in the press conference what Donald Trump told him, Nicușor Dan replied: “Only matters of politeness. Mr. Rubio was more … He watched the elections in Romania and how they were over.”

“You had a telephone call with Trump, today a greeting. Did you say that 2025 is not the ideal year for a meeting, there were contacts, there is a chance to change the perception?” – It was another question for Nicușor Dan.

“Obviously there is a collaboration, the relationship between Romania and the USA is in my opinion a normal and correct one. I continue to believe that a high level visit must be more thoroughly planned on multiple levels,” the President of Romania replied.

The head of Romanian diplomacy, meeting with Marco Rubio

Official sources said for HotNews that the Romanian delegation wanted to go to the NATO summit in the Netherlands with the government invested to give a stability signal to our country.

According to the same sources, the Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu had a meeting with the head of American diplomacy, Marco Rubio. The discussions focused on Romania's relationship with the US.

Rubio said he followed the elections in our country and congratulated Romania for the result, the official sources said.

Also, during the meeting between Țoiu and Rubio, there was also discussed the intention of Romania to organize an official state visit. The sources added that Washington also wants such a visit, but at this moment has not set the place of development, nor if Nicușor Dan will go to the US or if Trump will accept to come to Romania.