Austrian expert predicts NATO realignment due to Trump's policies

US President Donald Trump will change his approach to NATO, which will force the alliance to restructure its work. Austrian geopolitical analyst Patrick Poppel told Izvestia on February 4.

"Trump's 'America First' policy will hit the European economy very hard with the introduction of high import duties - up to 25%. <...> This could certainly have a negative impact on Europe-US relations, including in the context of NATO, as NATO has always been part of US foreign policy," he said.

Poppel emphasized that NATO was created to protect Europe during the Warsaw Pact and the existence of the USSR. Now the alliance has no specific mission, the expert emphasized.

"Now there is a possibility that Trump will change his approach to NATO, which will force the alliance to rebuild. However, this does not cancel the fact that the current NATO Secretary General [Mark Rutte] is a convinced transatlanticist and Trump supporter. It is also inevitable that NATO countries will have to reconsider the funding of the alliance if, for example, the US starts paying less, withdraws or takes some other measures," Poppel said.

Europe needs a stronger alliance that distances itself from the U.S. and turns Europe into an independent player, he said.

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On February 1, Trump promised to impose duties on goods from the European Union. Before that, in January, the U.S. president said he was not sure whether to continue sponsoring NATO, as Washington was protecting the alliance members and not getting help in return. That same month, he said he would push for North Atlantic Alliance nations to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP and spend more of Washington's money to support Ukraine.

The NATO secretary general then promised to increase the alliance's defense spending after a phone call with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth. In addition, in January, he called on the alliance countries to switch to a wartime mindset.

At the same time, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the countries of Europe would not be able to ensure their own security without Washington's help.

On January 26, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that Europe would face problems with the return of U.S. President Donald Trump to the White House.

January 23, Foreign Policy magazine called unreasonable confidence of European politicians, who believe that they are ready for a second term of the American leader. The piece specified that Europe is focused on the wrong goals, distracted by political crises and "far from being ready for challenges."