Posted on 10/04/2019 3:43:41 AM PDT by knighthawk
Prime Minister Mark Rutte understands why American president Donald Trump is critical of NATO and EU countries' Defense spending, he said in a speech about cooperation between the United States and the Netherlands. He also called Trump's criticism of the United Nations "at its core, justified", RTL Nieuws reports.
NATO countries agreed to spend two percent of their gross domestic product on Defense by 2024. The Netherlands, and some other European Union member states, has not yet reached that target. Trump and his administration regularly criticize European NATO countries for not increasing their Defense budgets.
"Anyone who is a member of a club has to pay the fee. We may not like it, but the time in which Europe could hide under the American security umbrella for a minimal amount, is over", Rutte said in his speech. "That movement already started under Obama and the current one makes no secret of it the fact that the disproportionate division of costs within NATO is a thorn in his side. To be honest, I can only show a lot of understanding for that."
Rutte is a strong supporter of NATO. He's said multiple times in the past that there is no other alternative - the Netherlands and the EU cannot guarantee safety on their own. "The fact is that after the Brexit, about a fifth of NATO's total military spending will be raised by the remaining EU members. No more than that. That cannot be sustained in the long term", Rutte said.
Rutte advocated for continuing international cooperation, in NATO, the UN and the European Union. But he also acknowledged that there are problems, mentioning the slow-decision making in the UN and China's status as a developing country. "President Trump's criticism - but not only his - is firm, that is true. But at its core, much of that criticism is justified. And so I think that we should see President Trump's behavior as an opportunity to push through and improve and update the international system", the Dutch Prime Minister said.
So is he raising Dutch defense spending?
Lying suck-up...
Freedom isn’t free.
IIRC, Germany has never reached the 2% and said they wouldn’t reach it until maybe 2025.
Latest figures suggest its 1.24% of GDP but it has been rising since 2015 from a low of 1.13%. Britain has certainly been raising its defence budget. Its going to need to in order to be able to operate those two aircraft carriers and their escorts. Lucky for us Australia and Canada also ordered expensive Type 26 frigates which will boost their cost effectiveness via economies of scale for the components they’ll be using.
Simple solution (for us)is to get out of NATO.
Does anyone really believe that Europe will come to the defense of America if attacked? I don’t. I am not a 100% sure that the real danger is not Europe.
The problem as I see it (and this is just an opinion based on no facts) is that Europe has grown soft under socialism. They have allowed millions of Muslims to move into their countries. Muslims that have no intention of assimilating into the culture of Europeans. Not only that, they have a religious duty to convert all those around them to Islam.
When the the time is right they will use violence to take over the continent.
What good is NATO then?
Actually they did. When we were hit on 9-11 the NATO countries immediately came to help us.
A lot of the smaller European countries have met their goals. Germany is a total disgrace. A proud people have become beggars leeches. I wonder if the average German is aware of how much in arrears they are.
The Germans aren’t even bothering to lie and claim they’re ever going to remotely come close to spending a paltry 2% of GDP on Defense. Their plan is to freeload o America forever even while trying to unify Europe under their hegemony against America, even while profiting enormously from the American market, even while buying oil and gas from Russia because it’s cheaper and even while going around the world systematically seeking to profit from trading with rogue regimes America has put sanctions on.
But remember, this is our “ally” and we should defer to them.
Maybe they'll catch on.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.