This year NATO In the Dutch administrative capital Hague, it is not reminiscent of other meeting of the recent past. Because of its weakness or reluctance Donald Trump To participate in a long -standing sessions, the program has been set up in such a way that the US president will remain as little as possible in plenary.
In practice, the meeting begins with tonight’s dinner at the Huis den Bosch Palace, with the Royal couple in the Netherlands in the role of hosts, while the meeting that begins tomorrow around 11:00 Greece will be completed until 15:00. It is indicative that the Kyriakos Mitsotakis Reach in the afternoon in The Hague has a program in Brussels tomorrow afternoon, before the EU summit.
It is a given that Trump would like to come to The Hague … trophy, cutting a A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran. The mornings bombardment But they are “spoiling” the “presidential soup”, with Mr Trump addressing strict warnings to the two parties involved. If things went according to the presidential seats, Mr Trump would have a very good two days: and would succeed the deal in Middle East And it would achieve the commitment of the NATO allies to an increase in defense spending to 5% of their GDP in the coming years, even with a… fiscal alchemy.
In this context, the War in Ukraine It seems to be somewhat overwhelmed as a priority. THE Volodimir Zelenski He wants an appointment with Mr Trump is in The Hague and has a contact schedule, but he will only participate in tonight’s dinner and not tomorrow’s meeting. And Trump does not seem to be “burning” for another meeting with the Ukrainian president.
The goal of 5%
Trump’s finding that Europeans mainly spend little on the common defensewhich he had done before the end of his first presidential term, was admittedly correct. In the meantime, however War in Ukraine, so in one way or another most NATO members “caught” the target of 2%. But Trump did not change line and insists on 5%, which the Dutch secretary -general is willing to succeed, even on paper.
Rutte’s plan foresees Expenditure of 5% For the coming years, but in practice the target is 3.5% of purely defensive costs and 1.5% of safety and defense -related costs and investment, such as infrastructure, industry and durability. The initial time horizon for the implementation of the commitment is 2035, but it has not yet been finalized and is also expected to be a matter of debate among leaders. Already, however, Spain has succeeded in excluding the rule, while Belgium and Canada have expressed objections, so the debate will be interesting for the adaptation time.
According to Greek government sources, Greece agrees with the proposal of the Secretary -Generalas it already spends more than 3% of its GDP in defense, it is therefore owned by the hard core of alliance countries that have exceeded NATO, which is currently 2% of GDP, while the prime minister recently presented the country’s 12 -year defense program. In his speech at the leaders’ meeting, Mr Mitsotakis will point out that Greece, despite the financial difficulties, consistently adhered to its commitments, and would point out the urgent need for Europeans to invest more and more intelligently in the collective European defense and form a strong European defense.
The “wildcard” Erdogan
Interesting in the equation, however Tayyip Erdogan In The Hague. According to US and Turkish leaks expected to meet with Donald Trump, with whom he spoke several times on the phone about the situation in the Middle East. Mr Erdogan aspires to get an invitation to the White House, which he never got to Biden, but also a serious debate on lifting the sanctions caatsa which prevent the supply of critical US equipment.
On the other hand, Mr Mitsotakis does not have an organized meeting with Mr Erdogan, which means that the scenario for a Supreme Cooperation Council in early July is rather utopian in early July in early July in Anchor. Given the geopolitical developments, it could hardly be done anyway. On the other hand, Athens does not want to cut the line of contact with the neighbor, so it is not unlikely that Mr Mitsotakis and Erdogan have a tet-a-tete “upright” on the sidelines of the meeting.