Nato chief warns over future of transatlantic relationship

Source: The Guardian




Exclusive: Jens Stoltenberg says US and Europe must work to avoid breakdown in western unity

• Europe and North America need to stay united – now more than ever

Daniel Boffey in Brussels

Tue 19 Jun 2018 06.56 EDT First published on Tue 19 Jun 2018 05.07 EDT

The head of Nato has warned that the deep divisions between the US under Donald Trump and its European allies are not going away and there is no certainty that the transatlantic relationship and its military alliance will survive.

Against a backdrop of Trump’s open baiting of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, over immigration and her domestic difficulties, Jens Stoltenberg has called for all Nato members to work to avoid a disastrous breakdown in western unity.

Writing in the Guardian, Nato’s secretary general admits that “political storm clouds” are putting a strain on the ties that bind the Nato allies. But, in an appeal to leaders before the military alliance’s summit in July, the former prime minister of Norway says that “where differences persist, we must limit any negative impact on our security cooperation”.

Stoltenberg – who is meeting Theresa May in Downing Street on Thursday as he prepares for the summit in Brussels – writes: “Since the alliance was created almost 70 years ago, the people of Europe and North America have enjoyed an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity. But, at the political level, the ties which bind us are under strain.



Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/19/transatlantic-relationship-at-risk-says-nato-chief