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Future US Secretary of State on NATO policy: partners should contribute more to defense
Kyiv • UNN
U.S. Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio has emphasized the importance of NATO, but stressed the need to increase allied contributions. He emphasized that rich European countries should invest more in their own defense.
NATO is a very important alliance, but allies must make greater contributions to both their own defense and partnership. This was stated by the nominee of the newly elected US President Donald Trump for the post of Secretary of State Marco Rubio on January 15, UNN reports with reference to the Voice of America.
Details
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, at Rubio's confirmation hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, recalled that Marco Rubio was a co-sponsor of a bill that would prohibit presidents from making decisions to withdraw from NATO without the appropriate congressional approval. "Will you commit to following Senate confirmation or an act of Congress, as required by the law you sponsored, if President Trump attempts to withdraw the United States from NATO?" - Shaheen asked.
"First, let me say that President Trump has appointed a nominee for ambassador to NATO, which clearly indicates his role in this. Secondly, the law is the law. Obviously, as you mentioned, I was a co-sponsor of the law, so it's hard to say that I don't support the law that I helped pass," Rubio replied.
Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio noted that there are "misunderstandings" around the NATO issue.
NATO is a very important alliance. I believe in it. I believe that alliances can be and have been very useful. Without NATO, there would have been no end to the Cold War. Without NATO, it's quite possible that much of what we know as Europe today would have been a victim of aggression
At the same time, he added that it is important for the United States not just to have partners, but to have "capable" defense allies who are "able to defend their region.
"So I think there is a question that should be asked. I'm not expressing a public position. I'm asking a question that needs to be asked, which is, should the role of the United States in NATO in the 21st century be a primary defense role, or should it be a defense against aggression, with countries in the region taking on more of the responsibility by contributing more?" - he pointed out.
Rubio noted that "the farther east you go in Europe, the more money as a percentage of GDP is spent on the military.
"But I think it's been widely recognized in Europe and in many administrations, Republican and Democrat, that our NATO partners - the rich developed economies - need to contribute more to their own defense and ultimately to the NATO partnership. And that's a demand that has been made by many presidents over the years, and the fact that it's true has been demonstrated by what has happened with Ukraine," he said.
So, Rubio concluded, it is important for the United States to have alliances, but they should be "with strong and capable partners," not with those "who see the US-NATO defense agreement as an excuse to spend less on defense and more on some domestic needs.
"We also have internal needs," he emphasized.
Rubio added that the "advanced and wealthy countries of Western Europe" have "huge security systems, programs that they fund.
"They have been able to direct or expand these programs because they don't have to spend as much on defense as we do as a percentage of our overall economy. And that dynamic needs to change. So I expect President Trump to continue to emphasize that strongly," said the US Secretary of State nominee.