Biden recommits US to Nato at summit
PRESIDENT Joe Biden has reaffirmed the US commitment to Nato after his predecessor Donald Trump questioned the organisation’s relevance.
Shortly after arriving at the alliance’s headquarters for the first Nato summit of his presidency, Mr Biden sat down with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and underscored the US commitment to Article 5 of the alliance charter, which spells out that an attack on one member is an attack on all and is to be met with a collective response.
Mr Biden said: “Article 5 we take as a sacred obligation. I want Nato to know America is there.”
It was a sharp shift in tone from the past four years, when Mr Trump called the alliance “obsolete” and complained that it allowed for “global freeloading” countries to spend less on military defence at the expense of the US.
Looking forward, Mr Stoltenberg noted myriad challenges still facing the alliance. He said: “We are meeting at the pivotal time for our alliance, the time of growing geopolitical competition, regional instability, terrorism, cyber attacks and climate change. No nation and no continent can deal with these challenges alone. But Europe and North America are not alone.”
Mr Biden was greeted by fellow leaders with warmth and even some relief.
Belgian prime minister Alexander de Croo said Mr Biden’s presence “emphasises the renewal of the transatlantic partnership”. Mr de Croo said Nato allies were looking to get beyond four stormy years under the Trump administration and infighting among members.
“I think now we are ready to turn the page,” Mr de Croo said.
Italian prime minister Mario Draghi made a not-so-subtle dig at Mr Trump, while welcoming Mr Biden. “This summit is a continuation of yesterday’s G7 and is part of the process of reaffirming, of rebuilding the fundamental alliances of the United States that had been weakened by the previous administration,” he said. “Think that President Biden’s first visit is to Europe and try to remember where President Trump’s first visit was?”
Mr Trump’s first overseas visit as president was to Saudi Arabia.
Mr Trump berated other Nato countries for not spending enough on defence and even threatened to pull the US out of the world’s biggest security organisation.
Yesterday, Boris Johnson insisted Nato did not want a new Cold War with China, but acknowledged it did pose “challenges”. The PM had travelled for the meeting, with China and Russia two of the main issues facing the alliance. He said: “I don’t think anybody around the table today wants to descend into a new Cold War with China.
“I think people see challenges, they see things that we have to manage together.”