NATO: awareness among Europeans of the imperative to finance their own defense

Ukraine was at the heart of discussions in Brussels this Thursday, February 15. The defense ministers of the 31 NATO countries met and renewed their commitment to kyiv. But beyond that, the European countries of the Alliance are convinced that they must prepare for a possible disengagement, even relative, from the United States. This is the continuation of the shock wave of the declarations of Donald Trump, who does not want to help the Allies if they do not finance their defense.

Listen - 01:53

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov takes part in a remote meeting during a meeting of the NATO Council on Ukraine in Defense Ministers' Session at the organization's headquarters in Brussels on Thursday February 15, 2024. AP - Virginia Mayo

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With our correspondent in Brussels,

Pierre Benazet

The most tangible decision this Thursday was the creation of a

NATO

-

Ukraine

center in

Poland

, for training troops, to learn lessons from the war and Russian military tactics.

But the main lesson of these two days of meetings is that the European NATO countries have, it is true, realized that they must be ready to take charge of their own defense themselves.

For NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the Alliance is the United States' best security guarantee. But he adds that if Washington gave 75 billion dollars to Ukraine, the other Allies, between them, put 100 billion dollars on the table.

This is a way of saying not that NATO can do without the United States, but that the Europeans now play a significant role, at a time when their military spending has in fact increased considerably.

Faced with the Russian threat, and faced with the possibility of a reduction in American commitment within the Atlantic Alliance, the creation of defense Europe is progressing.

At the same time, the President of the European Commission also announced this Thursday that she is in favor of the creation of a portfolio of European Defense Commissioner.

Finally, note that the Polish special services announced, also this Thursday, that they had arrested a Ukrainian working, according to them, for the Russian intelligence services at the end of January. According to the authorities, he was preparing sabotage actions around strategic infrastructure.

Also listen: Which NATO after Donald Trump's statements?

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