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NATO Secretary
General Jens Stoltenberg chairs talks of foreign ministers in
Brussels on Friday that will look into ways of keeping
Washington committed to the alliance, U.S. President Donald
Trump once denounced as "obsolete".
Stoltenberg said the ministers, including U.S. Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson, would discuss "fair burden sharing to keep
the trans-atlantic bond strong" and "stepping up NATO efforts to
project stability and fight terrorism".
Under Trump, Washington has stepped up pressure on Europe to pay
more for its own defense.
Trump's arrival to the White House has galvanized NATO's
European allies, though Lithuania's Linas Linkevicius said on
arrival to the talks that there was "no doubt about commitment
of the United States to NATO".
Only four European NATO members - Estonia, Greece, Poland and
Britain - met the alliance's agreed requirement of spending two
percent of their annual economic output on defense.
For Europe's largest economy, Germany, Berlin's Foreign Minister
Sigmar Gabriel said it was not even desireable: "Two percent
would mean military expenses of some 70 billion euros. I don't
know any German politician who would claim that is reachable or
desirable."
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Robert-Jan Bartunek)
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