German leader says he does not want Nato to 'split' over war on Iran
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday he did not want Nato to break up over the US-Israeli war on Iran, as US President Donald Trump ratcheted up his threat to impose costs on the alliance if members did not deploy forces to the Strait of Hormuz.
"We do not want - I do not want - NATO to split. NATO is a guarantor of our security, including and above all in Europe," Merz told reporters.
Merz’s emphasis on Nato’s role in European security is notable, as it underscores how Trump’s attempt to pull Nato into the war in the Middle East poses new challenges for the nearly eight-decade-old alliance.
"NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN. REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!! President DJT," Trump wrote in a social media post shortly after meeting Mark Rutte, the secretary general of the military alliance, at the White House on Wednesday.
Rutte, who was previously prime minister of the Netherlands, became famous earlier this year for calling Trump “daddy”. Asked about this remark on Thursday, Rutte said the word choice was a translation issue, but added, "I like him so much," referring to Trump.
Rutte has been called a "Trump whisperer" for trying to appease the US leader, but he drew criticism for his response to a CNN question on how he felt about Trump’s vow to destroy Iran’s civilisation. The Nato secretary general responded: “I’m not commenting. I support the president.”
Experts say Rutte is trying to preserve the Nato alliance as the Trump administration toys with ending its support for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Rutte said his meeting at the White House was difficult and included a "very frank” and “very open” discussion on Trump’s complaints.
“He is clearly disappointed with many Nato allies, and I can see his point,” Rutte told CNN.
Trump had previously called on Nato countries to deploy their militaries alongside the US to wrest control of the Strait of Hormuz from Iran.
He has noted that the US purchases very little oil and natural gas from the Gulf, and that the region’s main customers are Asian and European states.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” Trump said in a social media post last month.
Several European countries rebuffed US efforts to become involved in the war. Spain closed its airspace to US warplanes. Italy denied US military aircraft en route to the Middle East permission to land at a base in Sicily. France also denied US planes flying military equipment to Israel permission to use its airspace, Trump said.
French President Emmanuel Macron directly rebuffed Trump’s call for Nato to join military operations to end Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, calling an offensive “unrealistic”.
'Turned their backs on Americans'
The Trump administration’s fury at Nato members for not wholeheartedly embracing the war has been building for days. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth last week refused to commit to Article 5, which says an attack on one Nato member is an attack on all.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said on Wednesday that Nato was “tested” by the war and had “failed”. She said the US’s Nato allies had “turned their backs on the American people”.
Ian Lesser, the vice president of the German Marshall Fund in the US, previously told Middle East Eye that the White House’s complaints were detached from the reality of how most European countries saw the war.
“There is a basic concern that Europe is being asked to contribute to and approve of operations they had no role in shaping and a strategy they had no role in shaping,” he said. “That’s not a good recipe for cooperation.”
The White House is not angry at all countries, however. Greece, for example, gave the US access to its airspace and strategic ports amid the war. When the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier left the Red Sea amid mysterious circumstances following a fire, it docked at the Souda Bay naval base in Crete.
Likewise, Romania granted the US access to use key facilities for operations against Iran, the Stars and Stripes newspaper reported.
The Wall Street Journal reported late on Wednesday that the US was looking to punish Nato countries that did not help the US wage war on Iran, and reward those that did. The US could remove US troops from the former and place them in the latter, the report said.
Poland, Romania, Lithuania and Greece are all countries that could see more US engagement, while Spain and Germany might see the closure of a US military base, the WSJ reported.
In general, European governments, particularly those close to Russia, have viewed the US’s military presence within their borders as an asset underwriting their security. Trump has long pressed European countries to spend more on their defence.
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
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