The transatlantic policy of current U.S. President Donald Trump comes down to persistent attempts to get as much money out of European NATO partners as possible. The “Defender Europe 2020” exercise will do him great.
This statement was made by Andrei Sidorov, Head of the Department of International Organizations and World Political Processes at Lomonosov Moscow State University, speaking at a press conference of the Russia Today agency.
As previously reported by News Front, the notorious NATO military exercise “Defender Europe 2020” was deployed in Europe. They became known for their scale and apparent anti-Russian orientation.
The task of maneuvers is to work out the only operation – to counter the enemy in the European theater of military operations with causing enough damage to force the opponent to surrender. Although the organizers of the exercises do not specify who exactly they mean by the enemy, it is clear that in Europe it can only be Russia.
At the same time Andrey Sidorov draws attention to the other side of maneuvers. Thus, armies from nineteen countries take part in the exercises. The number of soldiers involved in the exercise is about 37 thousand soldiers, while 20 thousand are soldiers of the U.S. Armed Forces, thrown here from across the Atlantic Ocean.
The expert is sure that such a demonstrative gesture of the American administration has quite specific goals. Thus, Washington has already shown that the European Union countries are not able to defend with their own forces. Subsequently, Donald Trump will certainly use this factor to start “shaking” EU countries again, demanding higher spending, but not only for military needs, but also to ensure a rapid response.
“Thus the countries of Europe find themselves in a very dangerous trap. If they really admit their failure in terms of combat readiness, they will have to pay extra euros”, – said Sidorov.