NATO summit in The Hague approves new 5 percent spending target; Trump calls it a ‘monumental win’

Brussels – All’s well that ends well. Against the most dire predictions, the Trump earthquake did not disrupt the NATO summit in The Hague, which closed without any particular drama with the green light from the 32 member states to increase defense spending by up to 5% of GDP over the next ten years. In fact, the entire summit was essentially a red carpet rolled out for the tycoon, treated as a deity on earth.

The new spending targets

Today (25 June), the two-day meeting in The Hague ended with a joint declaration that enshrines, in black and white, the historic increase in national military spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035, as
widely anticipated.

Donald Trump, the Alliance’s majority stakeholder, called it a “monumental win” and took credit for it. A victory “for the United States because we were carrying an unfair burden, but it is also a victory for Europe and Western civilization,” he declared triumphantly at the end of the proceedings.

The commitment includes, on the one hand, investments of at least 3.5 percent of GDP in “basic defense needs” (including arms, ammunition, salaries, barracks, and military infrastructure) to meet the new NATO capability goals. On the other hand, the allies agree to allocate up to 1.5 percent of GDP to the broader category of security-related investments (including, among others, critical infrastructure protection, strengthening civil resilience, and promoting innovation).

The calculation of defense spending, which individual member states will detail in annual national plans — on which, thanks to the vague wording of the communiqué, the councils will retain a reasonable degree of flexibility — will include “direct contributions” to Ukraine and its military industry. A review of the Alliance’s new spending trajectory is set for 2029.

Thus, the doubts that had loomed over the heads of the 32 leaders until yesterday were dispelled, including the objections recently raised by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez regarding the new spending targets, which he deemed “unreasonable.” The Socialist leader’s remarks did not sit well with Trump: Spain “is the only NATO country that refuses to pay,” he blurted out, denouncing Madrid’s attitude as “terrible” and threatening to double the tariffs on the Iberian country in future trade negotiations (which are actually conducted by the European Commission on behalf of all Twenty-Seven).

A promising debut for Rutte

Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte, brings home a personal success of no small measure. He passed his baptism of fire by managing to make a politically complex summit — the most important since the founding of NATO in 1949, according to some observers — run smoothly; most importantly, he managed to keep the mercurial US President on board, confirming that he deserves the title of Trump whisperer.

“A good friend,” the former Dutch prime minister called him, who throughout the summit (and even before, according to private messages made public by the tycoon himself) did nothing but use sweet words, little jokes, deferential smiles, and accommodating gestures to ingratiate himself with the White House occupant and avoid irritating his oversized ego.

Everything seems to be fine, even regarding Article 5 of the Atlantic Charter, which enshrines the mutual defense clause (the same raison d’être as NATO, which extends Uncle Sam’s nuclear umbrella to all member countries). And on which the US president had remained vague even yesterday, provocatively observing that there are “numerous definitions” of that fundamental provision.

At the end of today’s session, Trump sounded conciliatory when he said he wanted to “help” European leaders protect their countries. Rutte remarked, “America is committed to NATO but expects allies to do more.” “And the allies of the EU and Canada will do more,” he promised, reiterating a leitmotif he has been repeating for some time now.

The Ukraine issue

The other topic on The Hague agenda was support for the aggrieved Ukraine. It is an indigestible topic for Trump, who has drastically reduced Washington’s aid to Kyiv and, at the same time, harbors a cordial dislike for Volodymyr Zelensky and genuine admiration for Vladimir Putin. Ultimately, the tycoon agreed to a face-to-face with his Ukrainian counterpart, describing him as “very kind” and acknowledging that “he is fighting a brave and difficult battle.”

“He wants to get to the end” of the war,” he acknowledged, adding that he would hear from the Kremlin occupant again to seek a solution. Zelensky, who later also met with the leaders of the so-called E5 (France, Italy, Germany, Poland, and the UK), described the bilateral meeting as “long and substantial,” claiming that they “discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and real peace.”

I had a meeting with the leaders of the E5 group of countries – Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Poland – as well as the NATO Secretary General.

Strengthening Ukraine’s air shield is crucial, and today we primarily discussed air defense systems and interceptors…
which has been repeating itself for a long time.

– Volodymyr Zelenskyy (@ZelenskyyUa) pic.twitter.com/S6wJDx9ThP</blockquote

However, when it comes to the attitude to hold towards Russia after almost three and a half years of neo-imperialist warfare, the distance between the two sides of the Atlantic remains vast. According to Trump, Putin is “ill-advised,” while Rutte confirms that he “does not trust” the Tsar and his “lies.”

 

Another cold shower also on sanctions. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, reiterated that the White House does not intend to increase the pressure on Moscow, at least for now. Brussels is working on the 18th package of restrictive measures, even if the mystery of lowering the price cap on Russian crude remains as it would require the agreement of all G7 partners.

In the final communiqué of the summit, however, the Europeans managed to include the reference to the Federation as a “long-term threat to Euro-Atlantic security,” and the head of the Alliance reiterated in front of the microphones that Ukraine’s path to NATO membership is “irreversible.”

The crisis in the Middle East

Although not on the agenda of the proceedings, the Middle East crisis was certainly in the spotlight. The ceasefire that Trump personally brokered between Israel and Iran is holding. He announced that he will meet the leadership of the Islamic Republic next week to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program, even though, he says, that program no longer exists.

For their part, NATO leaders have hastened to dutifully acknowledge the president’s role in resolving (at least temporarily) the conflict between the two regional powers, which was in danger of spiraling out of control and spilling far beyond regional borders. Little does it matter, at this point, if B-2 strikes on Iranian nuclear sites — moreover, when negotiations between the Europeans were underway in Geneva — constitute a clear violation of international law, which remained buried under the rain of Made in USA bombs.

Or whether Washington’s own intelligence reports that, in fact, the Iranian atomic program has only been delayed by a few months and not obliterated forever, as the top echelons of the US administration claim (who labeled the press that reported the news as ‘scum’).

The important thing in politics is to maintain the appearance, the protocol, and the family photo without smearing. The postcard from The Hague shows an apparently happy family. Yet, even the transatlantic one is unhappy in its own way. And each of its members is aware of this.