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NATO: Concern about Biden's health cast a shadow over Sami

2024-07-13 09:21:29Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

The NATO summit in Washington was supposed to be the big celebration of the alliance's 75th anniversary. But concerns about Joe Biden's health took center stage at the summit, although none of the attendees spoke publicly about it.

The United States hosted the summit on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of NATO in turbulent political times. While Russia's continued attacks on Ukraine continue to keep the Euro-Atlantic alliance on high alert, the leader of the host country, the US, is in a precarious and difficult position these days.

Since his disastrous debate performance against presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, President Joe Biden has faced growing calls from within the party to withdraw his candidacy for the next four years. Although Biden himself has insisted he will run in the US presidential election this November, the uncertainty surrounding US leadership was also felt among NATO members at the summit in Washington, experts said, especially since Trump is not seen as a source of stability for the alliance.

"One presidential candidate expresses deep doubts about the alliance's value to Americans. The other faces doubts in his own party about his worth as a candidate," said Richard Fontaine, executive director of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). , an independent American think tank focused on national security and defense policy. "Allies come to Washington not only to emphasize commitment to Ukraine, but are also concerned about political developments in the alliance's most important partner."

An "unfortunate discussion"

Publicly, those who attended the summit expressed no doubt about Biden's ability to do his job and run again in November. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said before leaving for Washington that he was not worried about Biden's health. with us," Scholz told reporters on Tuesday.

And Christoph Heusgen, a senior German diplomat who will chair the Munich Security Conference from 2022, told DW in Washington that questions swirling about Biden's suitability for the job were an "unfortunate discussion." The world is watching. from the U.S. and it's not helpful to have a debate like this right now. We need a strong U.S. leader," Heusgen said Thursday. "I hope this discussion will end soon."

The outgoing Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, told reporters that he would not comment on the health of the American president. "One of the reasons why NATO is successful is that we have always stayed out of domestic political issues," he told a press conference ahead of the summit in Brussels.

Trust in allies falls

However, it cannot be denied that there have been concerns behind the scenes. "Privately, the leaders have lost their minds" about Biden's state of health, Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, a transatlantic expert at Germany's Bertelsmann Foundation, told DW. She said NATO members can't just rely on "hope and optimism" that Biden will be up to the job and beat Trump. They want to be prepared no matter who ends up in the White House in January.

One sign of that preparation: Members of several NATO delegations met with former Trump administration officials and Republicans close to Trump while in town for the NATO summit.

In an article of the American magazine "Politico", several diplomats and participants of the NATO summit are quoted, who expressed concern about Biden's health. But also disappointment that the ongoing discussion about the US president dampened what was supposed to be a celebratory summit for alliance members. However, most of them were quoted anonymously.

Biden's persuasive opening speech

That's why Biden's opening speech on Tuesday was closely watched and the reaction was mostly positive. Politico called it "strong", while the BBC referred to the speech as "brief but forcefully spoken". Expert Clüver Ashbrook pointed out that the president handled the opening of the summit well in the Mellon auditorium, where the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in 1949.

"Biden has always proven to be strong on the international stage," Clüver Ashbrook told DW. "He seemed to have regained some of his energy. Sure, he was reading from a teleprompter, but he still managed to get his main points across."

Perhaps Biden was energized by the fact that he could announce NATO plans to send more air defense systems to Ukraine. The US president has always been a strong supporter of Ukraine, pushing for aid packages when Congress hesitated. He also strongly believes in the importance of NATO and the U.S. role in it. sacred".

Trump, on the other hand, has said in the past that under his leadership, the US would not protect NATO allies from Russian attacks unless they spend 2% of gross domestic product on defense. In the meantime, he relativized this statement a bit, but it is still unclear what another Trump presidency will bring for the US's NATO allies. "One thing is clear from the time President Trump has been in office, and that is that you can't count on what he does," concludes Heusgen. "What we have to do is focus on ourselves." / DW


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