Vice president ‘expects our allies to keep their word’ on NATO costs

Vice President Mike Pence reassured the European Union on Monday of President Donald Trump’s commitment toward a continuing partnership but stressed the need for NATO members to “keep their word” and increase defense spending.

Pence is making his first trip abroad as vice president amid skepticism among European leaders about the direction of Trump’s foreign policies.

“Today it is my privilege on behalf of President Trump to express the strong commitment of the United States to continued cooperation and partnership with the European Union,” said Pence, who met in Brussels with EU Council President Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Pence noted, however, that the U.S. provides more than 70 percent of NATO’s funding. Trump has demanded that European members increase their share of defense costs, ripping them in a speech Saturday for “not paying their bills.”

“As our country continues to make investments in Europe’s security, we see European countries falling behind,” Pence said Monday. “I don’t know what the answer is to ‘or else,’ but I know that the patience of the American people will not endure forever.”

Stoltenberg said that, after years of declining defense spending, NATO’s European partners agreed in 2014 to increase spending. He said spending rose 3.8 percent in 2016.

“This is not something that the U.S. is asking for,” Stoltenberg said. “This is simply about all of us doing what we said we would do.”

Pence called on Europe to join the U.S. in intensifying efforts to fight terrorism, which he said would need more coordination between the EU and NATO. He described his talks in Brussels as constructive.

“Whatever our differences, our two continents share the same marriage, the same values and, above all, the same purpose: to promote peace and prosperity through freedom, democracy and the rule of law,” Pence said. “We reaffirm our commitment to free, fair and flourishing economies that undergird our success and a cooperation in achieving that.”

Tusk thanked Pence “for being so open and frank with me” during the meeting, saying too much had happened over the past months “for us to pretend that everything is as it used to be.”