NATO, EU make show of unity amid uncertainty posed by Trump

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The United States, by far NATO’s biggest funder, has for years demanded its partners to spend more, but Trump’s heated and unpredictable rhetoric has unsettled many allies.

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They are also wary of Trump’s uncritical view of Vladimir Putin even as the Russian president makes more assertive use of his armed forces in Europe.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, appearing at his last NATO ministerial meeting, agreed that “unity is very, very important” for the defence alliance.

“We need to come together, to make sure there is a strong Europe, a strong NATO and that the values and the interests that we all share, we are continuing to work on together,” Kerry told reporters.

The Brussels meeting was aimed in part at reassuring the incoming U.S. administration that European allies are spending more and that the world’s biggest military alliance is already doing plenty to combat terrorism.

Indeed, some allies are waiting for Trump to spell out exactly what more he believes they can do.

Despite doubts about what the future holds, Stoltenberg said he is “absolutely certain that the United States will remain committed to the trans-Atlantic bond, will remain committed to NATO and will live up to … the security guarantees to Europe.”

While NATO and the EU have 22 common members, co-operation between them has been hindered by different visions over which organization should have primacy in defence matters.

“It is a very good thing if countries talk about other arrangements for their security and their defence, but that should not in any way undermine NATO,” British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said.

Of the 42 proposals, one-quarter deal with countering so-called “hybrid threats” such as propaganda, political and economic interference, or disguising trained military personnel as militias, as Russia did in Ukraine.

Others involve better co-ordinating NATO and EU crisis response activities, and studying whether to conduct joint and co-ordinated military exercises. But they remain proposals, and nothing concrete in terms of defence programs were on the table.

Tuesday’s talks also were expected to focus on NATO’s role in helping to bring stability to Iraq and Syria.

Lorne Cook, The Associated Press