BRUSSELS — The NATO secretary general on Tuesday defended the alliance’s relevance to the United States after Donald Trump has pummeled the organization on the campaign trail.
“We are as relevant as ever and we are able to adapt to change in a more dangerous security environment and we are delivering,” Jens Stoltenberg said during a press conference to close the first day of a defense ministerial in Brussels.
Stoltenberg pointed out that the only time NATO has invoked Article 5, which requires a unified response from all countries if one is attacked, was after the terrorist attack on the United States on 9/11.
He said that European allies sent their troops to fight in Afghanistan, and that thousands of them were killed because of an operation that began in response to an attack on the U.S.
“So I think this illustrates that NATO is important for Europe, but also important for the United States,” he said.
Trump has said that the alliance is no longer relevant, and has also called on other members to contribute their fair share to the collective defense.
“There’s nothing wrong with saying that a concept was good, but now it’s obsolete or now it’s outmoded,” Trump said in March, repeating his oft-heard position that the U.S. pays a disproportionate amount to NATO.
While Stoltenberg defended the importance of NATO, he declined to wade into the U.S. election.
“We have many other concerns than the U.S. election campaign,” he said.
