«Germany assumes its leadership responsibilities. It is clear: as European capabilities increase, the tasks within the Alliance must also change”: this was stated by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul before a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg in light of the downsizing of US troops in Europe. This was reported by Dpa.
“The goal is a new burden-sharing that corresponds to the economic and military potential of Germany and Europe,” he said. Germany wants to reach NATO’s 5% target as quickly as possible.
Rutte: Not all allies spend enough to support Kiev
Some NATO allies do not spend enough on support for Kiev. This was stated by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at a press conference in Helsingborg, Sweden, with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, responding to a question on the proposal to allocate 0.25% of the allies’ GDP to support Kiev.
«Basically, what we need is a similar amount of spending by allies on support for Ukraine. The problem is that it is currently not distributed equally within NATO,” he said. According to the NATO secretary, a limited number of NATO countries would make the right contribution, including «Sweden, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway, and also a couple of others».
“But there are also many – he specified – who do not spend enough to support Ukraine”. The proposal put forward, the NATO secretary general himself admitted, “will not obtain unanimity” to be approved, but it served to start a debate between the allies.
“If we all agree that Ukraine must ensure that it stays in the game as strongly as possible and brings this conflict to peace, then we must all contribute equally,” he concluded.