{"id":45488,"date":"2018-07-13T03:59:39","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T03:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=45488"},"modified":"2018-07-13T03:59:39","modified_gmt":"2018-07-13T03:59:39","slug":"nato-summit-2018-in-brussels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=45488","title":{"rendered":"Nato summit 2018 in brussels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
BRUSSELS: US President Donald Trump launched a blistering attack on\u00a0\"\"Germany at the start of a tense NATO summit yesterday, accusing Berlin of being \u201ccaptive\u201d to Russia and demanding it and other allies immediately step up defence spending, reports AFP.<\/p>\n

The two-day meet in Brussels was already shaping up to be the alliance\u2019s most difficult in years, with Europe and the US engaged in a bitter trade spat and Trump demanding that NATO allies \u201creimburse\u201d Washington for the cost of defending the continent.<\/p>\n

European allliance members were braced for criticism from Trump on defence spending, but his furious tirade at what should have been an amicable breakfast meeting appeared to take even NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg by surprise. \u201cGermany is a captive of Russia because it is getting so much of its energy from Russia,\u201d Trump said, taking particular aim at the proposed Nord Stream II pipeline.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s talking about it all over the world, they\u2019re saying we\u2019re paying you billions of dollars to protect you but you\u2019re paying billions of dollars to Russia.\u201d Trump has long complained that European NATO members do not pay enough for their own defence, accusing them of freeloading on America and singling out Germany for particular criticism.<\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

\u2018Germany makes
\nindependent decisions\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

BRUSSELS: Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday said Germany makes\u00a0\"\"\u201cindependent decisions\u201d, firing back at US President Donald Trump after he accused Berlin of being a \u201ccaptive\u201d of Russia, reports AFP.<\/p>\n

\u201cI myself have also experienced a part of Germany being occupied by the Soviet Union,\u201d Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany, said as she arrived at a tense NATO summit. \u201cI am very glad that we are united today in freedom as the Federal Republic of Germany and that we can therefore also make our own independent policies and make our own independent decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump said on Wednesday that Germany was a \u201ccaptive\u201d and \u201ccontrolled\u201d by Russia because of the country\u2019s dependence on Russian gas which is set to increase with the construction of a new pipeline.<\/p>\n

Merkel also addressed repeated criticism from Trump over Germany\u2019s military spending, which is below the target level agreed by NATO members.<\/p>\n

\u201cGermany owes a lot to NATO,\u201d Merkel added. \u201cThe fact that reunification has taken place also has a great deal to do with NATO, but Germany is also doing a great deal for NATO.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the second largest provider of troops, we put most of our military capabilities at the service of NATO,\u201d she said.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BRUSSELS: US President Donald Trump launched a blistering attack on\u00a0Germany at the start of a tense NATO summit yesterday, accusing Berlin of being \u201ccaptive\u201d to Russia and demanding it and other allies immediately step up defence spending, reports AFP. The two-day meet in Brussels was already shaping up to be the alliance\u2019s most difficult in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":45489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[44,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n