However, allies are still at odds in the run-up to the Washington summit over whether, and how, to strengthen Nato's wording on Ukraine's future membership in the alliance, for which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to press.
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- Ukraine has been told to clean up its corruption issues before it can join NATO.
- The country currently ranks on the latest Corruption Perceptions Index behind Belarus and Kazakhstan.
As Biden falters, Europe’s NATO members look to safeguard the military alliance
WASHINGTON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PUBLISHED YESTERDAY
NATO – made up of 32 European and North American allies committed to defending one another from armed attack – will stress strength through solidarity as it celebrates its 75th anniversary during the summit starting Tuesday. Event host Mr. Biden, who pulled allies into a global network to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s invasion, has called the alliance the most unified it has ever been.
But behind the scenes, a dominant topic will be preparing for possible division, as the power of far-right forces unfriendly to NATO grows in the United States and other countries, including France, raising concerns about how strong support will stay for the alliance and the military aid that its members send to Ukraine.
At the recent presidential debate, Mr. Biden asked Mr. Trump: “You’re going to stay in NATO or you’re going to pull out of NATO?” Mr. Trump tilted his head in a shrug.
Mr. Biden’s poor debate performance set off a frenzy about whether the 81-year-old President is fit for office or should step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate.
Even before the debate, European governments were deep in consultations on what they could do to ensure that NATO, Western support for Ukraine and the security of individual NATO countries will endure should Mr. Trump win back the presidency in November and temper U.S. contributions.
But behind the scenes, a dominant topic will be preparing for possible division, as the power of far-right forces unfriendly to NATO grows in the United States and other countries, including France, raising concerns about how strong support will stay for the alliance and the military aid that its members send to Ukraine.
At the recent presidential debate, Mr. Biden asked Mr. Trump: “You’re going to stay in NATO or you’re going to pull out of NATO?” Mr. Trump tilted his head in a shrug.
Mr. Biden’s poor debate performance set off a frenzy about whether the 81-year-old President is fit for office or should step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate.
Even before the debate, European governments were deep in consultations on what they could do to ensure that NATO, Western support for Ukraine and the security of individual NATO countries will endure should Mr. Trump win back the presidency in November and temper U.S. contributions.
- Some Americans and Europeans call it “Trump-proofing” NATO – or “future-proofing” it when the political advances of far-right blocs in Europe are factored in.
There are two reasons for the gloom:
- Russian advances on the battlefield in the months that Trump-allied congressional Republicans delayed U.S. arms and funding to Ukraine, and
- the possibility of far-right governments unfriendly to NATO coming to power.
Rachel Rizzo, a senior fellow on NATO with the non-partisan think tank the Atlantic Council, said she has a blunt message for Europeans: “Freaking out about a second Trump term helps no one.”
For allies at the summit, she said, the key will be resisting the temptation to dwell on the details of unprecedented events in U.S. politics and put their heads down on readying Western military aid for Ukraine and preparing for any lessening of U.S. support. . .
- Elections in France saw a NATO-adverse far-right party under Marine Le Pen greatly increase the number of seats it holds in parliament. Far-right forces also are gaining in Germany.
- Some European officials and analysts say that’s simply the rise and fall of voter allegiance in democracies, which NATO has dealt with before.
- They point to Poland, where a right-wing party lost power last year and whose people have been among NATO’s most ardent supporters.
- They also note Italy, where right-wing populist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has won praise as an ally.
- European allies also failed to get enough weapons to Ukraine during the delay in a U.S. foreign-aid package, outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged in a visit to Washington last month.
An initiative likely to be endorsed at the summit is NATO taking more responsibility for co-ordinating training and military and financial assistance for Ukraine’s forces, instead of the U.S.
- Europeans also are talking of giving Ukrainians a greater presence within NATO bodies, though there’s no consensus yet on Ukraine joining the alliance.
- But European countries and Canada, with their smaller military budgets and economies, are years from being able to fill any U.S.-sized hole in NATO.
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