Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned that Nato is suffering an “ongoing disintegration” amid a row between Donald Trump and German Chancellor Merz over defence spending
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has declared that Nato is experiencing “ongoing disintegration” as governments face mounting pressure to boost defence expenditure.
In a post on X, the former EU council president suggested that a diplomatic spat between President Trump and Chancellor Merz of Germany, which resulted in the US withdrawing 5,000 soldiers from the country, had signalled the start of Nato’s collapse.
Tusk stated: “The greatest threat to the transatlantic community are not its external enemies, but the ongoing disintegration of our alliance. We must all do what it takes to reverse this disastrous trend.”
Trump’s decision to pull back some troops from Germany, where it stations approximately 40,000 servicemen, followed Merz’s suggestion that the US had been “humiliated” by Iranian leadership.
Trump retaliated against Merz despite relations between the two world leaders having been cordial in recent months, as reported by City AM.
Merz becomes the latest leader to experience deteriorating ties with Trump, with Sir Keir Starmer facing repeated criticism for declining to join the US and Israel in military action against Iran.
A Nato spokesman commented: “This adjustment underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defence and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security.”
Nato members’ spending constraints European countries are set to face mounting pressure to ramp up defence spending. Germany relaxed its borrowing rules last year to accommodate a spike in expenditure, while Poland is gearing up to allocate nearly 5% of its GDP to defence this year.
Meanwhile, Starmer has yet to unveil the UK’s Defence Investment Plan, despite it being due for release last autumn.
Lord George Robertson, a former Nato chief and Labour defence secretary who co-authored a review of UK armed forces, lambasted the Prime Minister for his “corrosive complacency” in neglecting to adequately fund defence.
An analysis by City AM revealed that the UK is gradually veering away from a Nato target to dedicate 3.5% of GDP to defence by 2035.
The study also indicated that the UK was lagging significantly behind the likes of Russia and China in terms of military spending, while Nato members were left more exposed to hostile nations when US military expenditure was not factored in.
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