Merkel, Trump at each other’s throats at Nato

US PRESIDENT ACCUSES GERMANY OF BEING IN RUSSIA’S POCKET Chancellor fires back, quoting freedom of choice amid tense start to European meetings.

Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday said Germany makes “independent decisions”, firing back at US President Donald Trump after he accused Berlin of being a “captive” of Russia. “I myself have also experienced a part of Germany being occupied by the Soviet Union,” Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany, said as she arrived at a tense Nato summit.

“I am very glad that we are united today in freedom as the Federal Republic of Germany and that we can, therefore, also make our own independent policies and make our own independent decisions.”

Trump yesterday launched a blistering attack on Germany at the start of the summit, accusing Berlin of being “captive” to Russia and demanding it and other allies immediately step up defence spending.

The two-day meeting in Brussels was already shaping up to be the alliance’s most difficult in years, with Europe and the US engaged in a bitter trade spat and Trump demanding that Nato allies “reimburse” Washington for the cost of defending the continent.

European alliance members were braced for criticism from Trump on defence spending, but his furious tirade at what should have been an amicable breakfast meeting appeared to take even Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg by surprise.

“Germany is a captive of Russia because it is getting so much of its energy from Russia,” Trump said, taking particular aim at the proposed Nord Stream II gas pipeline, which he has previously criticised.

“Everybody’s talking about it all over the world. They’re saying we’re paying you billions of dollars to protect you but you’re paying billions of dollars to Russia.”

The US president was due to hold a oneon-one meeting with Merkel yesterday, the White House said.

Trump has long complained that European Nato members do not pay enough for their own defence, accusing them of free-loading on America and singling out Germany for particular criticism.

Nato allies agreed at the Wales summit in 2014 to move towards spending 2% of GDP on defence by 2024. But Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, spends just 1.24% on defence, compared with 3.5% for the US.

“These countries have to step it up – not over a 10-year period, they have to step it up immediately,” Trump said.

“We’re protecting Germany, France and everybody ... this has been going on for decades,” Trump said. “We’re not going to put up with it, we can’t put up with it and it’s inappropriate.”

Stoltenberg acknowledged that Trump had expressed himself in “very direct language”, but insisted that away from the fiery rhetoric, the allies all agree on fundamental issues: the need to boost Nato’s resilience, fight terror and share the cost of defence more equally.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose country also lags on the 2% pledge, said the focus should be on “outputs” rather than on how much is spent. “You can try to be a bean-counter, but the fundamental question is: is what you are doing actually making a difference?” Trudeau said. – AFP