NATO plays down divisions as infighting roils alliance
WATFORD, ENGLAND — NATO leaders sought Wednesday to paper over their differences on an array of issues, such as the military alliance’s future priorities, but insisted they would respond as one in the event of any attack on any of its 29 member countries.
In their closing communique to a summit just north of London, the leaders also announced that they would set up a commission of experts to study NATO’s political decision making. That appears to be a direct response to the recent lament from French President Emmanuel Macron of a “brain death” in the trans-Atlantic military alliance.
“We stand together, all for one and one for all,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after meeting at a luxury hotel and golf resort. “Our commitment to Article 5, the collective defence clause of our alliance, is ironclad.”
Ahead of the summit, Macron had complained about a lack of U.S. leadership. President Donald Trump branded his remarks as “very disrespectful,” while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that Macron himself was “brain dead.” The infighting is mostly due to Turkey’s offensive in northern Syria, which began in October. Macron has complained that Trump pulled U.S. troops out of the region without warning his NATO allies, a move that Turkey saw as a green light to send its troops in.
Countries across the European Union are particularly concerned as to what may transpire. The worry in many EU capitals is that some extremist fighters escaped during Turkey’s offensive, and that the fighting could spark a new wave of refugees.
To help ease tensions, leaders agreed to “a forwarding-looking reflection process” to be led by Stoltenberg. Details were sketchy, but the commission, “drawing on relevant expertise,” would study ways “to further strengthen NATO’s political dimension including consultation.”
Germany and France had both put forward similar schemes, although Macron riled many allies with his pre-summit remarks and NATO officials have suggested that they were more impressed by Berlin’s proposal.
After three summits in consecutive years, the leaders decided that they would take a year off and meet again in 2021. That means there won’t be another one until after the next presidential election in the U.S., which is NATO’s most powerful member country.
Earlier, summit host Prime Minister Boris Johnson — also busy with a divisive British election campaign — was one of many leaders who played down the organization’s differences.