NATO is facing ‘real political crisis’ as tensions flare up in Belarus, Turkey

NATO Secretary-General Meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Thursday against a backdrop of challenges for the transatlantic military alliance and rising tensions in Europe. But there is skepticism about what role NATO can and should play in de-escalating international conflicts, as divisions remain within the organization.

The meeting between NATO leaders Jens Stoltenberg and Merkel comes amid a continuing battle against Protestants in Belarus, which borders the European Union, and growing tensions between NATO members (but historical rivals) Greece and Turkey in the Mediterranean. See, as the recent withdrawal of American troops stationed in Germany.

Stoltenberg denied allegations that NATO troops were gathering near the country’s border with Poland and Lithuania.

“NATO has no military build-up in the region, so any excuse to use that as an excuse to defeat peaceful Protestants is absolutely unfair,” Stoltenberg, who arrived in Berlin on Wednesday to meet with senior German officials and a to attend informal meeting of EU Defense Minister, said.

He also called for the withdrawal of American troops from Germany. This decision was made by US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly crippled NATO members – and Germany in particular – for failing to meet a target agreed in 2014 for members of the organization by no less than 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) to be spent on defense expenditure. ,

Trump has claimed that the US spends too much of its own money to “protect” Europe.

Although Germany has increased defense spending since 2014, it has still not reached the 2% target. NATO’s most recent estimate predicts that the country will spend 1.38% on defense spending in 2019, while the US is estimated to have spent 3.42%. In fact, only nine members of the 30-nation alliance will reach the agreed 2% target in 2019, NATO estimates suggest. It is believed that lower defense spending among some European NATO members is a major factor behind Trump’s announcement earlier this year that the US would withdraw some 12,000 US troops from Germany.

On the order of the US movement, the Secretary-General of NATO said that it was important for NATO allies to “continue to consult closely, because (the) US presence in Europe is important, both for the security of Europe and for the security of the United States. “

Fabrice Pothier, chief strategy officer at Rasmussen Global, told CNBC on Thursday that NATO had been rivaled by divisions between its members. The most current spate is between NATO members Greece and Turkey, with both conducting competing naval exercises off the island of Crete amid competing claims over oil and natural gas exploration rights in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The spat has caused a rift in NATO, and within Europe, with the US reportedly conducting naval exercises with Turkey, while France has conducted exercises with Greece.

“The real pinch for NATO is from within. Yes, there are crises on the outside in Belarus, in the Eastern Mediterranean crisis, but in principle it is being squeezed from within, because some of the big members, the US, Turkey, France, do not look each other in the eye, “Pothier told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe.

“I think that inside (of NATO) there is a real political crisis,” he added.

“And with the case of France and Turkey, we are witnessing a kind of escalation in the eastern Mediterranean, so I think the real political conversation between Jens Stoltenberg and Chancellor Merkel will be more about how we will handle this policy. solve problems between our Member States, “he said.

Ahead of the informal meeting with EU defense ministers on Wednesday, Stoltenberg addressed growing tensions between Greece and Turkey and called for dialogue.

“Turkey and Greece have both been important NATO allies for many years. We need to find a way to resolve the situation in the eastern Mediterranean based on the spirit of Allied solidarity,” Stoltenberg said.