- US President Donald Trump internally divides NATO states into “good” and “naughty” countries.
- He wants to put pressure on allies who do not support the Iran war.
- “Brave” countries like Poland and Romania receive special support.
US President Donald Trump should NATO member states divided internally into “good” and “naughty” countries. With this list he wants to target those people Put pressure on allies or punish those who did not support the Iran war, reports Politico magazine.
The list was created in advance of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s visit to Washington and, in addition to the categorization, also contains an overview of the respective contributions of the member states to the alliance. “Politico” relies on several sources from Europe and the USA.
But which countries are considered the “good ones”?
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had already indicated a similar line in December. “Exemplary allies who are more committed – for example Israel, South Korea, Poland, increasingly Germany, the Baltic states and others – will receive our special support,” he said. “Allies, however, who continue to fail to contribute to collective defense will face consequences.”
However, it is still unclear which states fall into which category. Considered possible winners Romania and Polandwho are still considered close partners of the White House. Poland is already covering a large part of the costs of stationing around 10,000 US soldiers in the country. Romania, in turn, recently expanded its Mihail Kogălniceanu air base and made it available to the USA for operations in the Iran conflict – additional US troops could be stationed there in the future.
How are countries punished?
The concept is seen as a further indication of Trump’s desire to put more pressure on NATO partners if they do not adhere to his political guidelines. The President had repeatedly called for individual member states to contribute more to the common defense and also threatened consequences. However, what this could look like in concrete terms remains unclear.
«It seems as if there are no particularly clear ideas about how “bad” allies should be punished. “Relocation of troops would be one possibility – but ultimately such measures mainly affect the USA itself, right?” Politico quoted a European source.
NATO itself has not yet responded to the magazine’s request for comment.
Karin Leuthold (kle), born in 1968, has been working for 20 Minutes since 2005 and is currently working at the news desk.
