NATO allies have reacted with irritation to fresh criticism of the alliance by U.S. President Donald Trump. “We are stronger than ever before,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) told newspapers of the Funke Media Group on Friday, adding: “We should not call all of this into question, but rather build on our successes.” French President Emmanuel Macron accused Trump of “undermining” the military alliance.
Wadephul expressed concern about Trump’s remarks regarding a potential U.S. withdrawal from NATO. “Of course such statements concern me,” he said. “NATO is of enormous importance for the security of the Federal Republic of Germany, just as it is for the security of all alliance partners.”
On Wednesday, the British newspaper Telegraph published an interview with Trump in which the U.S. president described NATO as a “paper tiger.” Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio also announced that they would reconsider U.S. membership in NATO after the end of the Iran war.
Speaking during a visit to South Korea on Thursday, Macron argued that NATO’s value is based on trust among its member states. “If you nurture doubt about your commitment every day, then you hollow out the substance,” he stressed. Anyone entering an alliance must fulfill their obligations, Macron said. “You cannot say the opposite of what you said the day before every single day,” he warned. It would be more sensible to talk less and instead work toward a just peace.
Statements by Trump and Rubio have once again fueled doubts about the reliability of the U.S. government within the alliance. A European NATO diplomat told the AFP news agency that the situation is becoming “more serious every day.” Former U.S. ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder described it as the “most serious crisis NATO has ever faced.”
Despite this, Wadephul expressed confidence that a U.S. withdrawal could be prevented. “I think that our clear commitment and our determined advocacy for the alliance will convince the United States to continue writing this success story together,” he said in the Funke newspapers. It is not in the interest of the United States to abandon the strength that grows from unity. Moreover, a withdrawal would not be solely the decision of the U.S. president, Wadephul added. “He would need the approval of at least the Senate.”
Paull Wyatt from the British Ministry of Defence described Europe as “the eastern flank of the United States.” It is fundamental for both the U.S. and Europe “that we continue to think in Euro-Atlantic terms,” he said at an event in Paris. NATO “clearly” also stands for the security of the United States.
Wadephul also reiterated Germany’s willingness to contribute to securing maritime trade routes in the Gulf region and the Middle East. “Of course, we are in principle ready to participate in securing the sea routes,” he said. However, the German government has repeatedly made clear that any such involvement would require an end to the hostilities involving Iran.
In mid-March, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, and the Netherlands agreed to take “appropriate measures” to ensure safe passage through the strait. Several additional countries later joined, including the Gulf states United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which have been under attack from Iran for weeks.
Macron once again rejected the idea of a military operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Such an undertaking would be “unrealistic” and would “take an infinite amount of time,” he said. Reopening the strait could “only be achieved in agreement with Iran.”
Under normal circumstances, around one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Since the start of the Iran war at the end of February, however, shipping traffic through the strait has largely come to a halt. The blockade by Iran has led to a dramatic rise in global oil prices.
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