Nato unity urged at tense summit
BORIS JOHNSON has urged all Nato allies to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defence at the close of a summit beset by tensions over the future direction of the alliance.
In a rallying cry, the Prime Minister said countries cannot be “complacent” about the need to invest so the military group can continue for the next 70 years.
His comments came as Donald Trump dramatically cancelled his scheduled press conference, saying he had already done “so many” in the past two days.
The US president had earlier accused Justin Trudeau of being “two-faced” after footage of leaders – including the Canadian PM and Mr Johnson – emerged in which they appeared to mock Mr Trump at a Buckingham Palace reception.
Mr Johnson seemed unaware of the video, and deflected a question about Mr Trump’s role in the security of the west by talking only about the past record of the US.
“I certainly think that the United States is the guarantor of, has been a massive contributor to Nato, has been for 70 years a pillar of stability for our collective security,” he told a press conference.
Mr Johnson also said that foreign fighters have to “take the consequences” when he was asked whether they should be returned to the UK.
Meanwhile, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the leaders had committed to ensuring the security of their telecommunications infrastructure, including 5G, and would use only “secure and resilient systems”.
Mr Trump warned Nato allies against allowing the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei a role in building their 5G systems, saying it represented a “security risk”.
Mr Stoltenberg also said leaders agreed to the updated plan for the Baltic countries and Poland, despite Turkish threats to block it.
Despite the international importance of the summit, held in Watford, Mr Johnson appeared unable to resist bashing Labour during the press conference, saying the party wants to “destroy” Nato.
More global divisions had been on display on Tuesday after Mr Trump and Emmanuel Macron clashed over the French president’s suggestion the alliance was experiencing a “brain death”.
The US president said the comments were “very, very nasty” and insulting to other alliance members.
Mr Macron insisted he stood by the remarks prompted by Turkey’s offensive against the Kurds of northern Syria – seen as allies of the West in the fight against socalled Islamic State (IS) – after it was effectively given the green light by Mr Trump.
The PM, speaking yesterday, said Nato leaders recognised the “huge pressures” faced by Turkey in dealing with four million refugees from the conflict in Syria as well as the “terrorist threat” from the Kurdish PKK.
“What we want to do is to avoid any misunderstandings between allies within Nato about Turkey’s intentions and how that situation will develop,” he said.