Concern for US president overshadows NATO summit – DW – July 12, 2024

The US hosted NATO's 75th anniversary summit in tumultuous times. But not just stubborn ones Russian attacks on Ukraine The military alliance has been put on alert, and the host country's president is also in a difficult situation.

Firstly Television fight Donald Trump, who wants to run for the Republican Party in the November election, has caused a disaster for the current leader of the Democratic Party, Joe Biden. Since then, there have been growing voices within his party calling for him to withdraw his candidacy for another term.

Biden insists on being with US presidential election To compete in November. But at the summit in Washington, uncertainty about US leadership was palpable among NATO members, according to observers. After all, Trump is not exactly seen as a source of stability for NATO.

“One presidential candidate expresses doubts about the value of the alliance to America, and another has doubts within his own party about how effective he is as a candidate,” said Richard Fontaine, executive director of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), an independent think tank that focuses on national security and defense policy. . “Allies are coming to Washington not only to reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, but they are also concerned about political developments with the alliance's most important partner.”

A “Bad Debate”

Publicly, no one at the summit expressed doubt about Biden's ability to carry out his duties and run for re-election in November. President Olaf Scholz insisted before leaving for Washington that he was not worried about Biden's health. On Tuesday.

Christoph Heusgen was a great German diplomat who was the leader Munich Security Conference holds. He told DW in Washington that questions about Biden's fitness for office were an “unfortunate debate.” “The world is looking to America, and we don't need such a debate at this time for a strong America,” he warns. “I hope this debate ends soon.”

Outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg He did not want to comment on the health of the US president. “NATO is also very successful because we have always stayed out of domestic political issues,” he insisted at a press conference in Brussels ahead of the summit.

Trust of partners is waning

But it can be assumed that there are concerns behind the scenes. Kathryn Kluwer Ashbrook, a transatlantic expert at the Bertelsmann Foundation, said in an interview with DW that she believes that heads of state and government are secretly thinking about Biden's health. NATO member states did not simply rely on their faith and trust Biden Work against and is up to the election Trump will win. They wanted to be ready for whoever was in the White House in January.

Various NATO representatives used their stay in the city to meet with former Trump administration officials and Republicans close to Trump.

An article published in the US newspaper Politico quoted several diplomats and NATO summit participants regarding Biden's health.

They also expressed frustration that the ongoing debate about the US president has overshadowed the real celebratory event of the alliance members' anniversary summit. However, no one wants to be named with these concerns.

A solid opening speech

Against this backdrop, Biden's inaugural address on Tuesday followed closely. Reactions are mostly positive. Politico called the speech “powerful”, while the BBC called it “brief but powerful words”.

Kluwer Ashbrook also believes that the US president did well at the start of the summit at Mellon Auditorium, where the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in 1949. “Biden has always done well on the international stage,” he told DW. “He seemed to have regained his momentum. Of course he was reading from a teleprompter, but he was able to get his main points across clearly.”

Opposing positions in NATO

Perhaps it would have helped Biden further to have NATO plans Air defense systems Send to Ukraine. The President of the United States has Ukraine Even when the Congress hesitated, it strongly supported it and pressed for aid packages. He had no doubts about the importance NATO He also did not question US membership.

“The vast majority of Americans understand that NATO makes us all safer,” he insisted, calling support for NATO a “sacred duty.”

Trump, on the other hand, has already warned that the US will not defend NATO allies who do not spend the agreed two percent of their GDP on defense against Russian attacks during his presidency.

He qualified that statement somewhat, but it's unclear what another Trump presidency would mean for NATO allies. “One thing has become clear during Trump's tenure: You can't predict what he's going to do,” says Huisgen. “We have to focus on ourselves.”

Adapted from English by Phoenix Hanzo.