Joe Biden to cause Europe major headache as US set to push for more NATO spending
Joe Biden will ‘push’ for Europe defence spending says expert
The ex Denmark Prime Minister highlighted that despite the outgoing Donald Trump administration, Europeans should not expect a return to old times under the likes of Obama or Bush. He supported commitments of European countries spending 2 per cent of their GDP on NATO by 2024 and said President Joe Biden would do the same. Mr Rasmussen also warned that China poses the biggest risk to Europe due to their “flexing” and hostility.
Speaking on Euronews, Mr Rasmussen was asked: “Do you think that the United States under Biden’s administrations can really restore the country’s ability to secure western democracies and global order as we knew them before Trump?”
The Danish politician replied: “Yes, my short answer is yes.
“But of course we shouldn’t expect that it is a return to the Obama and Bush times or Clinton times.
“Something and other things have changed so the Europeans should not expect to get off the hook just because Biden has taken on the presidency.
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“For instance, in Europe, we should live up to our commitment to invest at least 2 per cent of our production in defence and Biden will continue to push for that.”
Countries signed up to NATO say they will commit to spending 2 per cent of GDP on Nato by 2024
Nearly 70 per cent of defence spending by NATO governments is paid for by the US.
The US spent roughly 3.4 per cent of GDP on defence in 2019 while the average in European NATO countries and Canada spent 1.55 per cent, according to NATO estimates.
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Mr Rasmussen was then quizzed about what the biggest challenge to Europe is right now.
He said: “First and foremost it’s China. They are flexing their muscles, not only in the near neighbourhood in the South China Sea, but they have punished the Australians.
“And whenever we criticise the Chinese, we see Chinese diplomats raising their voices to criticise European governments and we will see them blackmail and single out individuals European countries.
“So I think one of the big challenges would be to keep united, but of course Russia is also a challenge.
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“I think we should increase pressure on Russia to stop destabilising eastern Ukraine and personally I would like to see a stop to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
“I think Europe will be confronted with similar pressure from the United States”
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is being built between Germany and Russia which allows Russian gas to be pumped into Europe.
The US is opposed to its creation and has threatened trade sanctions against European countries involved in its construction.
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