has once again put the focus on Spain. The president of the United States took advantage of a meeting with NATO Secretary General in the Oval Office to harshly attack the Spanish Government for its position during the war with Iran and left one of the most striking phrases of the day.
“Spain is a disaster. Spain is terrible”Trump stated before the media, before insisting that the country “not a good group” within the Atlantic Alliance for refusing to facilitate the use of its military bases for US operations against Iran.
“They don’t want to pay anything; they believe that everything will be free. Spain is not a good group, it is not a good group at all”said the Republican president, who placed Spain among the allies who, in his opinion, did not respond as Washington expected during the conflict.
Rutte intervenes to reduce the shock
The words of Trump provoked an immediate reaction from the Mark Ruttewhich came out against the criticism to defend the role of the European allies and, in the process, try to reduce the confrontation with Spain.
The Secretary General of NATO acknowledged that there were “isolated cases” of countries that chose not to open their bases to the Pentagon, but he rejected that this was the general trend.
“There have been isolated cases that have really disappointed him, but, generally speaking, his European allies have been there”responded Rutte, who recalled that between 4,000 and 5,000 American planes took off from European bases during the conflict.
Trump expands his criticism of other allies
Although Spain was the main target of his reproaches, Trump also showed his discomfort with other European partners. The American president said he felt “disappointed” with the United Kingdom, Germany and France, considering that they did not offer the logistical support expected at certain times of the war.
Even so, Rutte insisted on highlighting Europe’s global cooperation and took advantage of the meeting to congratulate Trump on the US performance against Iran. “I want to make it very clear how important what they are doing regarding Iran is”said the Dutch leader, who maintained that the US attacks served to prevent Tehran from advancing its nuclear program.
The statements come at a particularly delicate moment for relations between Washington and several European allies, with increasingly visible differences over the role they should play in international conflicts and the degree of military involvement that the United States expects from them.
