While French President Emmanuel Macron has talked of the need for “an incredible awakening” and German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz described Europe as being “five minutes to midnight,” the worry from those close to the discussion is that events are happening more quickly than they can cope with.
“The nightmare scenario is that the U.S. announces a deal soon that accepts most of Russia’s demands and then tells Ukraine and Europe to take it or leave it,” said Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director general at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
And they’re not only scared of the United States. They’re also wary of some of their own. While Thursday’s hastily arranged summit, just days after less formal gatherings in Paris and London, signals an intention to come up with solutions, diplomats are already bracing for a pro-Russia group of leaders led by Hungary’s Victor Orbán derailing the whole thing.
This is something they should have done years ago, the US has been grumbling about other NATO members not spending enough on defence long before Trump got into power. And they spend roughly twice as much per capita as many European countries, so they kinda have a point.
From a geopolitics perspective, there are many ways to address “freeriding” in a defense alliance that don’t involve literally betraying the entire defense alliance.
Oh, absolutely.
Just don’t say you didn’t see this coming, because NATO were explicitly told it was coming for years.
As true as it is, I don’t think it is reasonable to just throw everything away and side with fucking russia because of it.
But finally europe seems to wake up, which is good.
Nothing about Trump’s actions are reasonable, but his complaint is.
Don’t legitimize a traitor, because his complaint while possibly valid is not genuine at all. He doesn’t give a fuck what they spend, he is just operating under orders from his dommy mommy Putin to destroy the west’s cohesiveness.
The us spends that much more than anyone, including its enemies.
The us just spends way too much. Matching us defence spending is kind of a lot. Combined the EU current defence spending is second only to the us
It’s not that - NATO membership includes an agreement to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense.
The reason the US wants that 2% spending today is because they know we’re going to hand that money to US weapons manufacturers and trainers.
So? It’s an amount everybody agreed to in 2014.
In 2014, NATO members pledged to aim for defense spending of at least 2% of their GDP by 2024. This agreement, formalized during the Wales Summit, was a response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and broader global instability. However, this target is not legally binding; it is a political commitment designed to address underfunding and encourage burden-sharing among allies[1][2][4].
Countries are not obligated to meet the target because NATO lacks enforcement mechanisms. The pledge allows flexibility, requiring nations to “aim” for the goal rather than mandating it. Members can prioritize other defense contributions, such as troop deployments or equipment investments, which are not directly tied to GDP percentages[1][5][7]. Additionally, critics argue the 2% metric oversimplifies defense contributions and does not account for qualitative factors like military capability or willingness to engage in operations[5][8].
Citations: [1] [PDF] THE POLITICS OF 2 PERCENT https://carnegie-production-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/files/CP_252_Techau_NATO_Final.pdf [2] Defence expenditures and NATO’s 2% guideline https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_49198.htm [3] The two NATO targets: Which countries are hitting the mark? https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/the-two-nato-targets-which-countries-are-hitting-the-mark/ [4] Topic: Funding NATO - NATO https://www.nato.int/cps/em/natohq/topics_67655.htm [5] What Spending Two Per Cent of GDP on National Defence Means … https://www.cgai.ca/what_spending_two_per_cent_of_gdp_on_national_defence_means_for_canada [6] Update of Canada’s Military Expenditure and the NATO 2 … https://www.pbo-dpb.ca/en/additional-analyses--analyses-complementaires/BLOG-2425-005-S--update-canada-military-expenditure-nato-2-spending-target--mise-jour-depenses-militaires-canada-objectif-depenses-2-otan [7] The Politics of 2 Percent: NATO and the Security Vacuum in Europe https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2015/09/the-politics-of-2-percent-nato-and-the-security-vacuum-in-europe?center=europe&lang=en [8] We don’t really know which NATO allies are pulling their weight … https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/natos-next-burden-sharing-agreement/ [9] How much do Nato members spend on defence? - BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44717074
Neat.
And given the EU is on the same continent as Russia, that should really be the other way around.
Russia wasnt a threat to Europe until the US made it one.
… Have you read anything whatsoever about European history? Russia has been an imperialist force since before the US existed.
No, he’s right. Russia was doomed to lose to Ukraine, let alone the EU, until the US switched sides.