NATO keeps America safe, former chief says

(Lara Jäkel – Politico) NATO leaders meet in Ankara next week, and the alliance’s former Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has a message for them: Show Donald Trump that defense spending is rising, keep supporting Kyiv and hammer home to Russia’s Vladimir Putin that the war in Ukraine was a “strategic failure”. Although Trump regularly attacks NATO members, denouncing them for low defense spending and not helping in the war against Iran, Stoltenberg underlined that allies should make the argument that U.S. security depends on the alliance. “I hope that the summit will be a strong sign of unity in NATO. That despite the differences, we are able to stand together against the key threats and challenges we face,” Stoltenberg, now Norway’s finance minister, told WELT — which, like POLITICO, belongs to the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network. Stoltenberg served as secretary-general from 2014 to 2024, a period that covered Trump’s first presidency, Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But the alliance during Trump’s second term is even more unstable. – POLITICO Pro Q&A: NATO keeps America safe, former chief says – POLITICO