America. Donald Trump 'did Europe a favor' with his words about encouraging Russia to attack a NATO country – POLITICO

As Politico wrote on Tuesday, a statement from Donald Trump was enough to “liberate Europe from the confines of the American security bubble.” “By directly and fundamentally questioning America's commitment to NATO, (Donald Trump – Ed.) has effectively driven a stake into the heart of the alliance,” the website commented on the former US president's statement on Saturday.

Donald Trump said during his rally that he would not defend a country that did not pay enough for defense — that is, less than 2 percent of what is considered by the coalition. GDP – and he will “encourage” Russia to do “whatever it wants” to such a country. These words caused a strong reaction among NATO countries. Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has pointed out that any suggestion that the allies will not protect each other undermines the overall security of the alliance and puts US and European troops at risk.

See also: US senators on Trump's words. “It was probably the most shocking speech I've ever heard in my life.”

Citing the wave of comments following the former US president's statement, Politico estimates that Europeans don't want to hear that Trump might be right about some things. According to 2023 data, only 11 of the 31 NATO countries spent more than 2%. GDP for Defense. “When Trump lost to Biden in 2020 (presidential election – ed.), everything seemed to be back to normal. Biden, a longtime supporter of transatlantic ties, tried to repair the damage Trump had done to NATO by allowing the Europeans to return. For their regional comfort.” “The truth is that Europe has been lulled into a false sense of security by Biden's warm welcome. Instead of increasing arms production and restoring military conscription in countries like Germany, Europe is clinging to America's skirts,” the portal adds. At the same time, he notes that the Baltic states and Poland are exceptions in this regard – they all spend more on their military than the alliance assumes.

The portal notes that whoever wins the November US presidential election, the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement of Trump's supporters will still be a major factor in the US political scene. The former US president recently showed his influence in the Republican Party, whose senators, under his pressure, voted against the bill, which included, aid to Ukraine. Nor can it be guaranteed that a future Republican Trump successor will not come out with anti-NATO views. “Europe cannot afford to ignore such a risk,” Politico insists. “Counting on the US is dangerous. Given what is at stake – subjugation to Russia – Europe has no choice but to prepare a Plan B,” he adds.

It was pointed out that “Europe must rely on the choice of about 50,000 voters from the swing states every four years (swing states which often influence the final outcome of the supreme elections – ed.)”.

See also: Truskovsky: Spend more money on weapons. Some NATO countries do not do this

To this end, Politico notes that all European countries spend three times more on defense than Russia, and their economies are several times larger than Russia's. According to the portal, it should give Europe a chance to tackle, but the problem is that it is “running out of time”.

“Europe must not only rebuild its forces, but also reorganize its collective way of thinking,” says the portal, especially in Western European countries, the issue of the war in Ukraine and its impact on the security of the continent. Short for many.

“The fundamental question is whether Europeans can come together and defend themselves without Washington's guiding hand. History suggests they will descend into chaos on their own. Look at how Europe dealt with the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.” – demands the portal and recalls the words of Joe Biden, which he said in 1995 when he was a senator. Biden said at the time that Europe would not be united without the United States. “Now Europe can prove him wrong,” writes Politico.

See also: “He said a stupid thing.” Republicans criticize Donald Trump

On Monday, the issue of security and defense in Europe was one of the topics of talks between Prime Minister Donald Tusk and German Chancellor Olaf Scholes and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Donald Tusk urged us to believe that the European Union can be not only a civilizational, economic, scientific, but also a military power. – This is not our choice. We don't want any conflict. It's a necessity, he pointed out. – The European Union has an economy eight times the size of the Russian economy, and we have a population six times the size of Russia. He added that there is no reason why we should be militarily much weaker than Russia.

He noted that the priorities are “not only to help Ukraine in terms of bigger air defense capabilities, more production capabilities, ammunition, but also Europe's priority is to have defense capabilities adequate to our capabilities.” The Prime Minister stressed that he had heard clear statements from both President Scholz and President Macron about their readiness to intensify cooperation with Poland.

Also see: “No election campaign is an excuse to play with the alliance's defenses”