US envoy warns some Nato allies ‘lagging’ on Trump spending vow

BRUSSELS: The US ambassador to Nato warned Wednesday that some European countries were not doing enough to fulfil a defence spending pledge, ahead of a summit in Ankara with president Donald Trump.

Under pressure from Trump, Nato leaders agreed at a gathering last year in The Hague to boost defence-related spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.

“Some allies are doing more than others — and we have countries like Poland, the Nordic countries, the Baltics, and Germany leading the way,” US envoy Matthew Whitaker told journalists.

“But we have some that are lagging behind, that either are not spending enough right now or don’t have a credible path to get to the Hague defence committment.”

Whitaker said Trump “fully expects that all allies will step up immediately and get on the path to 5% and do it with urgency.”

The Nato summit in Turkey comes after Trump lashed out at European allies over their response to his war in Iran.

Whitaker said he believed the bad blood was behind the alliance, claiming that “those days are past us”.

He pointed to Spain for having “disappointed” Trump over Iran and for its “unwillingness to demonstrate a credible path to 5%”.

But he said that he did not expect a bust-up at the summit between Trump and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

As defence spending rises across the alliance, Whitaker said that Europe must now show it is turning the increased cash into real capabilities.

“The goal is clear, continue shifting the burden for the conventional defence of Europe to our allies in Nato,” he said.

“The United States is not going anywhere, but we have responsibilities globally.”

Bolstering the defence industries on both sides of the Atlantic will be a major focus of the upcoming gathering.

Whitaker said the US welcomed EU efforts to increase production, but warned against the continent putting up barriers for US firms.

“We certainly do not support the protectionist language that often times many of the European defence initiatives have included that would cut out allies,” he said.

“That’s one area that may come up during the summit and we expect that we can come to some agreement on that challenge.”