The Fight Against Terrorism Dominates The NATO Mini-summit In Brussels

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on 24 May 2017 in Brussels.

It was a much-anticipated meeting. On Thursday, May 25, US President Donald Trump met for the first time his counterparts from NATO countries in Brussels. The American president, who had been constantly shooting at the Atlantic Alliance, managed to impose his priorities in a certain way. During the three-hour working lunch, the 28 heads of state and government discussed their military defenses and the fight against terrorism. At the end of the meeting, the Secretary General of NATO summarized the discussions at a press conference.

NATO becomes a full member of the coalition against the Islamic State group. Beyond the strong political signal, it is concrete to increase the surveillance flights of the Awacs aircraft as well as the training missions of the Iraqi army. But Jens Stoltenberg insisted that "  joining the coalition does not mean that NATO will engage in combat operations  ."

The sharing of information on terrorist networks must also be improved. To this end, NATO will set up a specially dedicated cell for this purpose.

With regard to military spending, which is a well-known topic for President Trump, the 28 countries have agreed on the establishment of annual national reports, which will have three components.

"How do countries intend to invest 2% of their GDP on defense? How can we invest these additional funds to increase the capacity we need? And how do the allies intend to contribute to NATO missions, operations or other commitments?  Jens Stoltenberg said he was convinced: NATO came out stronger of this meeting. It was necessary to respect the primary objective of this mini-summit: to send a message of unity to the rest of the world.