In a critical moment for NATO, the US launches a requirement to European allies for Americans to compromise to defend the Allied territory in case of attack
The United States Ambassador on NATO, Matthew Whitaker, has ensured that US administration is still committed to defending members of the alliance, but wants Europe to comply with article 3, which requires each ally to maintain and develop their individual defense capabilities and contribute to the collective defense of the alliance, urgently increasing their defense spending to 5% of threats.
“The US will continue to defend every centimeter of NATO’s territory. (…) Our commitment to Article 5 is maintained, but we also think that our allies also commit to Article 3, which includes their individual defense and collective defense,” said the head of a press conference at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, in anticipation of the NATO ministers, where CNN Portugal was present.
Article 3 of the NATO referred to by Matthew Whitaker states that member countries have the responsibility to strengthen their own defense and contribute to the collective security of the alliance, promoting military cooperation and readiness to face threats. And the United States has already decided what this means: all members should be increased “their spending on defense to 5% of GDP – more than twice the 2% currently established.
By conditioning the response to Article 5 with the compliance with Article 3 the message of the Americans is unambiguous: the NATO must be an alliance ready to dissuade and defeat any threat, but this requires a renewed and urgent commitment of all its members.
“This will not just be a promise, it will be a commitment. All allies should commit to investing at least 5% of GDP in defense and security, from now on. This is not a suggestion, it is the basis of dissuasion. (…) Let me be clear, the moment is now,” warned the ambassador.
This sense of urgency is aggravated by Kremlin’s actions, which Whitaker guarantees to be preparing “his next step” with active measures to “rebuild his armed forces”, although the Ukraine invasion is still endless. This context makes the deadline to reach the 5% tighter GDP mark. For the diplomat, the goal set by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to reach 5% of GDP in 2032 may not be sufficient.
“The threats that the NATO faces are increasing and our opponents are not waiting for us to go back or are ready to take the first step. We prefer our allies to advance urgently to reach 5%. We can not have another Wales Summit in 2014, with allies to reach 2% in 11 years. We are not the ones who are setting up, they are the actions of our opponents,” said Whitaker.
Portugal is one of the countries that still reaches the goal of 2% of GDP, with the executive of Luís Montenegro to predict this amount in 2029. In 2024, Portugal was the sixth who invested the least in defense, after spending 1.58% of GDP on military expenses. Still, the Portuguese executive believes that he would be able to fulfill the 5% GDP commitment “in two stages”, first reaching the 2% and then the 3.5% with an additional investment of 1.5% in infrastructure, although it has not set a goal to do so.
The proposal of NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte calls for an investment in a defense of 3.5% and 1.5% of investment in cyberderafes and infrastructures such as ports, barracks, airports and roads. Although the US ambassador does not concrete in the Rutte plan, he argued that allies have to develop cyberdefesa capabilities and infrastructure to protect everything, “from space resources to submarine cables.”
Still, there seems to be no consensus to approve these expenses. Spain continues to oppose the increase and it is enough for one of the allies to vote against so that the measure is not approved. The country led by Pedro Sanchéz is the member of Nato who spends the least in defense. Madrid insists that the 2% of GDP in defense are already a heavy investment and that the debate should not focus on percentages but in which capabilities allies should acquire.
For Whitaker, this hesitation will be exceeded before the NATO summit in The Hague in June. In this sense, the ambassador pointed out that the meeting of ministers of NATO this Thursday is particularly important to make decisions to “build the NATO” and for the alliance to be ready to “dissuade and defeat” any threat, whether conventional, cyber, hybrid or even nuclear.
“This requires modernized forces, cutting -edge capabilities and greater lethality. It means boosting our collective defense industrial base to produce more ammunition, more air defense, more heavy weaponry and faster. But it is not just combat power. It also has to do with jobs, innovation and economic strength throughout the alliance,” said the diplomat.
Asked about changes in the nature of the war, with Ukraine leading a surprise attack against the Russian nuclear bombing fleet using small FPV drones, the ambassador has ensured that the US is very carefully observed the battlefield in Ukraine to remove lessons and apply them to their armed forces.
“We are learning in real time from the Ukraine battlefield. Each lesson we can extract from modern war will be incorporated into the strategic planning of the alliance,” says Whitaker.
The ambassador also took the opportunity to reinforce President Donald Trump’s position regarding the war in Ukraine, insisting that the war “has to end” due to the high number of victims caused by the conflict, “including civilians.” Whitaker shares the view that a military end for war is not in sight to Ukraine, so an agreement must be signed between the two parts. Nevertheless, the diplomat praised the possibility of several European allies could create a coalition to send military to the ground, but closed the door to the entrance of Kiev into the alliance.
“It’s not on the table. We’re not the only NATO ally who thinks about it, but this decision is up to President Trump and the allies,” he said.
