Trump which announces “the war is over” as with the bomb on Hiroshima, which sells as “peace” a truce between Iran and Israel, which asks to Putin an effort to close the game on Ukraine and cashes in the increase to 5% of spending for NATO members. All in all, a great show.
But what really remains of the Summit in The Hague? “It's true. Everything has the flavour of a great show – he says Alessandro Minuto Rizzo, former number two of NATO during the time of the Englishman Robertson and current president of the NATO Defence College in Rome – a show also made up of unfortunate jokes and a few lapses in style, but if we look at the final objective, this summit in The Hague has shown that NATO is not dead at all, it is alive and can still play an important role for our security”.
Rutte, Trump and NATO: When the End Justifies the Compromise
“Of course – adds Minuto Rizzo – it is scandalous that the secretary Rutte he has shown himself so subservient towards Trump, but between the dignity of a secretary general and the NATO rescue, better to save the institution”. So are all Trump's criticisms and threats to leave the Alliance just a bad memory? “It must be said – observes the ambassador – that even in the past American presidents arrived at the White House with a perfect knowledge of America, but certainly not of the world. Then, little by little, they began to understand that we Europeans are their only allies. Trump is starting to understand this too. And above all in The Hague the US Secretary of Defense Peter Hegsethe and the secretary of state Marco Rubio, with their European counterparts, have begun to use a different language, in short as true allies and not as masters".
Military Spending at 5% and European Defense: NATO Relaunch or Parallel Army?
Even the 5% of military spending compared to GDP for the 32 member states deserves some reflection. “During the Cold War, Italy also spent a lot – observes Minuto Rizzo – and was close to that 3,5% that today is seen as a ten-year objective. Once that peace dividend was cashed in in '89, spending fell below 2%: returning to those levels in the next ten years is not an unachievable goal”.
Never relations between NATO and EU in the name of strategic autonomy can produce appreciable results or, as Meloni says, does a European army risk being a duplicate of NATO? "The European Union already has some coordination tools in the defense sector - says Minuto Rizzo - but it does not use them because defense is not part of its political culture; of course, greater coordination is needed and waste should be eliminated, but instead of talking about a European army, we should really create that European pillar of Defense in NATO".
Trump Attacks Spain, EU Confirms Support for Ukraine
Of course, Trump's tone is the one we know, and on the reservations of the Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez there were no shortages of 5% threats of retaliation. “Spain is terrible for what it has done,” Trump commented. “It is the only country that does not pay. And yet, the economy is doing very well. When we negotiate a trade deal with Spain, we will make them pay double.”
The climate is instead idyllic (apparently) with the Ukrainian president Zelensky. A meeting that “could not have gone better” said the American president. And after the financial support of NATO, today Zelensky will also receive new support from the European Council. A passage from the conclusions of the European summit forcefully reiterates this: “The European Union confirms its commitment, also in the context of Ukraine's path towards EU membership, to support its recovery, recovery and reconstruction, in coordination with international partners, including in the areas of psychological and psychosocial rehabilitation and increased assistance for demining. In this context, the European Council looks forward to the Conference on Ukraine's recovery to be held in Rome on July 10th and 11th 2025".
