NATO chief warns of danger in dividing US, Europe

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned allies Thursday about rising fears caused by American politics potentially dividing the U.S. and Europe, following former President Trump’s recent comments dissing the alliance.

Between American hesitancy to fund Ukraine aid due to partisan infighting and continued comments from Trump threatening to weaken the alliance, Stoltenberg encouraged European members to take a stronger lead but warned about dividing the trans-Atlantic group.

“I welcome that the European allies are investing more in defense, and NATO has called for that for many, many years,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on Thursday.

“But that’s not an alternative to NATO, that is actually a way to strength NATO,” he continued. “And we should not pursue any path that indicates that we are trying to divide Europe from North America.”

Christian Lindner, Germany’s finance minister, suggested Tuesday that Europe should pursue its own nuclear shield pact if Trump is reelected, given his recent comments saying he would not defend NATO countries that don’t meet defense spending targets.

“The strategic nuclear forces of France and Great Britain are already making a contribution to the security of our alliance,” Lindner wrote in a Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung op-ed. “We should understand Donald Trump’s recent statements as a call to further rethink this element of European security under the umbrella of NATO.”

Some French, German and Polish officials have shown interest in the Europeanization of NATO’s nuclear defense, but Stoltenberg warned of dividing the alliance further.

“NATO has a nuclear deterrent, and this has worked for decades,” Stoltenberg said. “We should not do anything to undermine that. That will only create more uncertainty and more room for miscalculation and misunderstanding.”

The debate comes after Trump doubled down on comments attacking NATO, which President Biden described as “appalling and dangerous.”

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. CQ Brown Jr. said Saturday that Trump’s position means “U.S. credibility is at stake.”

Stoltenberg himself also denounced Trump’s comments, saying “any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the U.S., and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk.”