Nato leaders to meet for summit that could be historic

US President Donald Trump and his Nato counterparts are due to gather on Tuesday for a summit that could unite the world’s biggest security organization around a new defence spending pledge or widen divisions among the 32 allies.

- Associated Press

Just a week ago, things had seemed rosy. Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte was optimistic the European members and Canada would commit to invest at least as much of their economic growth on defense as the United States does for the first time. Then Spain rejected the new Nato target for each country to spend 5% of its gross domestic product on defense needs, calling it “unreasonable.” Trump also insists on that figure. The alliance operates on a consensus that requires the backing of all 32 members. The following day, Trump said the US should not have to respect the goal.

“I don't think we should, but I think they should,” he said. Trump lashed out at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government, saying: “Nato is going to have to deal with Spain. Spain's been a very low payer.” He also criticized Canada as “a low payer.” Spain was the lowest spender in the alliance last year, directing less than 2% of its GDP on defense expenditure, while Canada was spending 1.45%, according to Nato figures.