By: Earnest Jones | 12-03-2016 | News
Photo credit: The Goldwater

Boris Johnson on Trump's Side About NATO Spending

The U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson agrees with the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO need to pull their weight, this comes after Boris Johnson was appointed as Britain’s top diplomat. In a statement made on Friday, Boris said that Mr. Trump was right on how the North Atlantic Treaty should handle their defense spending and their commitment towards the same.

During the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump expressed his uncertainty on whether the U.S. should commit to the NATO principle regarding the collective defense principle.

Donald Trump suggested that U.S. participation in the NATO should be centered on the participation of the other 28 countries in the military alliance; this was aimed at meeting the promise to spend 2 percent of the respective country's economic output on defense. However, of the 28 countries, only 5 countries met the target in the year 2015; these countries were the U.S., the U.K., Greece, Poland, and Estonia.

Boris Johnson raised a concern while at the London office of Chatham House when he said that it’s not realistic to have one NATO ally, America should be accounting for the 70 percent of the defense alliance spending while the others only spend 30 percent.

Boris also re-emphasized that when one nation is attacked, the attack should be considered as an attack to all member nations. This is the NATO’s abiding commitment that hold the member states together.

Boris added that Britain would not impede European Integration including suggestions for a closer common defense policy.

Boris Johnson’s statement on the collective defense was aimed at reassuring the European nations that Britain would remain committed to the region's security as it prepares to pull out of the European Union.

Boris also said that U.K. was supporting the EU project; saying that U.K. ‘’is not a nation hauling up the drawbridge’’.

Share this article
Thoughts on the above story? Comment below!
0 comment/s
What do you think about this article?
Name
Comment *
Image

Recent News

Popular Stories