Norwegian premier rejects Trump’s claim that US gets nothing from NATO

ISTANBUL

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s recent claim that the US has “never gotten anything” from NATO.

“It rings completely false when the American President stands in Davos saying that we have given everything to NATO and NATO gives nothing in return. It is wrong. It's plain wrong,” Store said while speaking at the Oslo Security Conference.

He noted that collective security is “not a charity,” but rather something “made out of self-interest.”

Store cited US tariff threats against allies as a political tool to force through a bid to take over Greenland as an illustration of how the world is changing.

The premier also stressed the need to deepen European cooperation on security, defense and trade, while reassessing the US role in Europe’s security in response to the shifting global landscape.

“We will aim to spend wisely at defense, so it really fits into these regional plans. But then we will do more. We will deepen strategically our cooperation with the lead European partners, with the United Kingdom. Don't forget, friends, EU is critical for our security. But EU member states represent 20% of NATO's military capacity. 80% is non-EU: US, Canada, Turkey, UK, Norway,” he added.