Stolberg feared the collapse of NATO due to the threat of US withdrawal

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke about his concerns about the possible collapse of the alliance caused by the threat of US President Donald Trump to withdraw from NATO in 2018. He stated this on November 8 in an interview with the British newspaper The Sunday Times.

"At the NATO summit in 2018, when President Trump said he was considering withdrawing from the alliance, I feared that I would be the last secretary general to see the end of NATO," Stoltenberg admitted.

According to him, the situation changed after the European allies promised to increase defense spending, which eventually helped keep the alliance from disintegrating.

"Most countries are spending much more now than they did a few years ago. There are also plans to continue increasing defense spending," Stoltenberg said.

In addition, he expressed the opinion that the North Atlantic Alliance would not start World War III over Ukraine.

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On December 8, Trump announced that the United States could withdraw from NATO. He noted that if the alliance "pays the bills," the United States will remain part of the alliance. In addition, the American leader stressed that the fulfillment of financial obligations by the allies would be a key condition for Washington's further participation in NATO.

On December 10, American political scientist Malek Dudakov expressed the opinion that the head of the White House is putting pressure on European allies, threatening the country's withdrawal from the alliance so that they increase defense spending. At the same time, the head of state has the opportunity to sabotage the work of the bloc even without Washington withdrawing from it.

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