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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 2 april 2019

NATO chief plays down divisions as allies mark anniversary

By LORNE COOK doubt on whether they lantic unity that underpins
Associated Press could count on Washing- NATO has been weakened.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The Unit- ton to fulfill NATO’s collec- Only bad guys benefit from
ed States and its allies are tive defense clause. trans-Atlantic division and
stepping up cooperation The speech was delivered a U.S. retreat from its global
in response to Russian ag- by a memorial made from leadership role,” Anders
gression, NATO Secretary- a twisted piece of the Fogh Rasmussen, Stolten-
General Jens Stoltenberg World Trade Center towers berg’s predecessor as
said Monday while playing felled by al-Qaida’s airliner NATO’s top civilian official,
down differences among attacks on Sept. 11, 2011. said in an email exchange
members as the military alli- Since the founding Wash- with The Associated Press.
ance marks its 70th anniver- ington Treaty was signed “We see the consequenc-
sary. on April 4, 1949, NATO has es of U.S. retreat, with au-
Foreign ministers from NATO only once activated the tocrats and dictators filling
countries are meeting in NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a clause stating that an at- the vacuum,” he added,
Washington this week for media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday, tack on one member is an Burns and Lute say this re-
the occasion, determined April 1, 2019. attack on them all, after treat from democracy, in-
to show a united front in Associated Press the 9/11 attacks. dividual freedoms and the
the midst of a long military the trip. Stoltenberg has niversary. Trump also delayed a sum- rule of law is “a potentially
stalemate in Afghanistan talks with U.S. President Trump, they said, is seen mit last year with fresh de- cancerous threat.”
and tensions with Russia Donald Trump planned for by allies as NATO’s “most mands on burden sharing. Still, NATO has survived for-
returned to Cold War era Tuesday. He is scheduled urgent, and often most dif- That time, at least, his dress- midable challenges over
levels. to address Congress on ficult, problem.” ing down about the U.S. the decades, including the
But as NATO deploys thou- Wednesday. A big source The White House said last spending more on defense Cuban missile crisis and the
sands of troops and equip- of the internal strain is month in a statement than the other NATO mem- missile race in Europe. It’s
ment to deter Russia and Trump’s recurrent demand about Stoltenberg’s talks bers combined happened also remained intact after
seeks solutions to fast- that countries devote an with Trump on Tuesday that behind closed doors. internal divisions over the
evolving new threats such amount equal to at least 2 the two would “discuss the Trump’s routine tirades Suez Canal, the Iraq war,
as cyberattacks and hybrid percent of GDP to defense unprecedented success of have fueled suspicion his and France’s departure
warfare, its biggest chal- spending — though that NATO, including the recent aim mostly is to drum up from the alliance’s com-
lenge arguably lies within. metric takes no account increased commitments on business for the U.S. de- mand structure. Officials
Damaging infighting over of how well the money is burden-sharing among Eu- fense industry. say they are confident
defense spending and spent — as well as the U.S. ropean allies and ways to But the attitude of Trump NATO will endure now, too.
authoritarian tendencies president’s reluctance to address the current, evolv- — who walked away from Trump is not scheduled to
exhibited by some allies criticize strongmen like Rus- ing challenges facing the the Iran nuclear deal and appear at the upcoming
undermine NATO’s values, sian President Vladimir Pu- alliance.” the Paris climate change talks of NATO foreign minis-
according to experts. tin. “NATO’s single greatest Trump made a memora- agreement his allies in Eu- ters, but he is expected to
“The strength of NATO is challenge is the absence ble impression on leaders rope value while making attend a leaders’ summit in
that despite these differ- of strong, principled Ameri- from Canada and Euro- tariff threats against them London in mid-December.
ences, we have always can presidential leadership pean nations during his first — also is similar to authori- “I hope we will not see a
been able to unite around for the first time in its histo- NATO summit in May 2017. tarian or populist streaks repeat of President Trump’s
our core tasks. That is, to ry,” two former U.S. envoys During a speech outside showing up in NATO mem- antics in Brussels last year.
protect and defend each to NATO, Nicholas Burns NATO’s new Brussels head- bers Turkey, Hungary, Italy It’s time for the world’s de-
other,” NATO chief Stolten- and Douglas Lute, wrote in quarters, he publicly humili- and Poland. mocracies to show their
berg said in Brussels before a report for the alliance an- ated them. Trump also cast “The political and trans-At- unity,” Rasmussen said.q