Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said he hopes to hear an unequivocal commitment from US President Donald Trump to NATO’s collective defence clause at next week’s alliance summit in Ankara.
“We are still waiting for a very clear statement that Article 5 is indisputable, sacred,” Nausėda said Thursday in an interview with LRT TV programme Dienos tema (Topic of the Day). “I hope that will be said in one form or another in Ankara.”
Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization states that an armed attack against one or more allies is considered an attack against all, although any collective response requires the agreement of all member states. The provision has been invoked only once, after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
Nausėda said Trump’s criticism that some allies contribute less to collective security should be understood as a call for all NATO members to spend more on the military.
“I believe President Trump is simply concerned that all countries understand their responsibility equally and that there should not be a club of those who contribute less and those who contribute more,” he argued.
