“Future US Secretary of State on NATO policy: partners should contribute more to defense US Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio stated the importance of NATO, but emphasized the need to increase allies’ contributions. He emphasized that the rich countries of Europe should invest more in their own defense.”, — write on: unn.ua
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Democratic Senator Jeanne Shagin, at the hearing on the approval of Rubio’s candidacy in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, recalled that Marco Rubio was the sponsor of the bill that prohibits presidents from unilaterally, without the appropriate approval of Congress, making a decision to withdraw from NATO. “Will you commit to following Senate approval or an act of Congress as required by the law you authored if President Trump tries to withdraw the US from NATO?” – asked Shagin.
“First, let me say that President Trump has nominated a nominee for ambassador to NATO, which clearly indicates his role in this. Second, the law is the law. Obviously, as you mentioned, I co-sponsored the law, so it’s difficult to say that I don’t support a law that I helped pass,” Rubio responded.
Nominee for the position of Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that there is a “misunderstanding” surrounding the issue of NATO.
NATO is a very important alliance. I believe in it. I believe that alliances can be and have been very useful. Without NATO, there would be no end to the Cold War. Without NATO, it is quite possible that much of what we know as Europe today would have fallen victim to aggression
At the same time, he added that it is important for the United States not just to have partners, but to have “capable” defense allies who are “capable of defending their region.”
“So I think there’s a question that should be asked. I’m not expressing a public position. I’m asking the question that should be asked, which is: Should the role of the United States in NATO in the 21st century be primarily a defense role or a defense against aggression, when countries in the region shoulder most of the responsibility by contributing more?” – he pointed out.
Rubio noted that “the further to the east of Europe, the more money, as a percentage of GDP, is spent on the army”:
“But I think there has been a broad recognition in Europe and in many administrations, both Republican and Democratic, that our NATO partners — the rich advanced economies — need to contribute more to their own defense and ultimately to the partnership with NATO. And this is a demand that has been put forward by many presidents for many years, and the fact that it is true was demonstrated by what happened to Ukraine,” he said.
Therefore, Rubio concluded, it is important for the United States to have alliances, but they should be “with strong and capable partners,” and not with those “who see the US-NATO defense agreement as an excuse to spend less on defense and more on some domestic needs.”
“We also have internal needs,” he emphasized.
Rubio added that the “advanced and rich countries of Western Europe” have “huge security systems, programs that they finance.”
“They’ve been able to direct or expand these programs because they don’t have to spend as much on defense as we do as a percentage of our overall economy. And that dynamic needs to change. So I expect President Trump to continue to strongly emphasize that.” said the US Secretary of State nominee.
Future US Secretary of State: Ukraine and the Russian Federation will have to make concessions15.01.25, 21:07 • 39446 views