NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg expects the United States to remain a strong and committed ally of NATO regardless of the outcome of the US election, citing three reasons. He said this during a press conference on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington on July 9, when asked whether the election was dangerous for the alliance, given that former US President Donald Trump, who is running again, has criticized European defense in the past, UNN reports.
I expect that regardless of the outcome of the US elections, the US will remain a strong and staunch NATO Ally - for three reasons
First, he said, "having a strong NATO is in the security interests of the United States." "NATO is good for Europe, but it's also good for the United States. It makes the United States stronger and safer because in NATO, the United States has something that no other ally has... no other great power has. And that is more than 30 friends and allies. russia doesn't have that, China doesn't have that. The United States has NATO, [it] makes the United States stronger," the Secretary General said.
"The second reason why I think the United States will remain a strong ally is that they have broad support for NATO from both parties in the United States," Stoltenberg said.
He noted that new public opinion polls have shown broad support for NATO among U.S. voters, as well as in the U.S. Congress.
"And thirdly, the main criticism of NATO by former President Trump, as well as by others, was not really directed at NATO alone. It was directed against the fact that NATO allies were not spending enough money on NATO. And that has really changed. Over the last two years, we have seen a dramatic increase in defense spending in Europe and Canada. And a record number of NATO countries are now reaching the 2% spending target, and those NATO countries that have not yet reached the target have clear plans to reach the 2% level soon," Stoltenberg said.
"So, for these reasons - the security interest of the United States is to have a strong NATO, strong bipartisan support, and the fact that European allies are stepping up, investing more - I expect the United States to remain a strong ally regardless of the election results," the NATO Secretary General concluded.