The journalist asked Rutte if he believed that the United States' loyalty to Art. 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty (on the readiness to defend other members of the Alliance in the event of an attack on them) remains unshakable, because “sometimes it seems that the United States does not consider itself part of NATO.”
“Absolutely [незыблемой остается]. But there was one big irritant on the American side of NATO, which I completely understand. And this irritant has existed since the time [34-го президента США Дуайта] Eisenhower, [который был главой Белого дома с января 1953-го по январь 1961 года]. And the president [США Дональд] Trump has been very clear about him,” Rutte responded.
He emphasized that the United States spends about 3.5% of its GDP on defense, while “Europeans and Canada do not do this.”
“I think one of the biggest successes of President Trump’s foreign policy was the NATO summit in The Hague, where we agreed to spend 5%, of which 3.5% on basic defense,” said the NATO Secretary General.
Rutte stressed that thanks to a contribution of 3.5%, other NATO countries will be aligned with the United States, and “this removes the question.”
He gave several examples. In particular, that in the coming years Germany will spend “100 billion more a year on defense” than before, the Netherlands (Rutte’s own country) will give “tens of billions more.”
“The same applies to Canada and the entire European part of NATO. So this irritant, this pebble in the shoe has been eliminated. I am quite convinced from all my conversations: there is no doubt, because the United States understands that NATO also exists in their interests, and they are members of the Alliance for their own interests. After all, it is beneficial for them that Europe, the Arctic and the Atlantic remain safe,” he explained.
