Mattis arrives in Zagreb, denies that the US is withdrawing from NATO

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis arrived in Zagreb on Thursday where he will discuss the accession of other regional states to NATO with colleagues from Southeast Europe, the Ministry of Defense announced.

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Mattis arrived in Zagreb after the NATO summit in Brussels where the US reaffirmed its full commitment to the North Atlantic Alliance, despite President Donald Trump’s criticisms that allies are not contributing enough to collective defense.

His visit to Croatia is a confirmation of the excellent and friendly relations between the two countries with the aim of making cooperation even better, the ministry said.

Croatia is working on enhancing its military capabilities and increasing its defense budget, said Croatian Defense Minister Damir Krstičević on Wednesday.

He added that the government has adopted a plan to reach the goal of allocating two percent of GDP for the defense budget by 2024.

Mattis will meet with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday, and on Friday participate in the meeting of defense ministers of the Adriatic Charter.

This is a regional initiative launched in 2003 by the US, Croatia, Albania, and Macedonia, to which Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro joined in 2008.

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The goal of the initiative is to support Euro-Atlantic processes in Southeast Europe and the prompt integration of all member states into NATO. Croatia and Albania joined the Alliance in 2009.

Ministers are expected to discuss strengthening the US presence in Southeast Europe, steps needed to accelerate the integration of remaining aspirant states from the region into NATO, the security situation in Southeast Europe, and a fairer distribution of the burden of defense spending between the US and Europe.

Mattis after the summit: US “100 percent committed to NATO”

US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said on Thursday that the US fully supports NATO, adding that the Alliance is stronger after the two-day summit thanks to reforms and commitments from allies regarding collective defense.

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“Just as the president (Trump) said: we are 100 percent committed to NATO,” Mattis stated.

“NATO is stronger today than it was yesterday, a month ago, or a year ago,” the US Secretary added to reporters accompanying him on the flight from Brussels to Zagreb.

Trump stated in Brussels on Thursday that NATO member country leaders agreed to “significantly increase” defense spending and that NATO is much stronger today than it was two days ago.

“Everyone agreed to significantly increase defense spending. NATO is much stronger today than it was two days ago,” Trump said at an extraordinary press conference after the NATO summit. He did not specify how much the increase was agreed upon, but mentioned that in the past year, $33 billion more has been allocated for defense, not counting the United States.

Trump rated the NATO summit as “fantastic,” saying it was held in a “collegial spirit.”

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Just before his press conference, information began to leak that Trump threatened to withdraw the United States from NATO if allies do not agree to increase defense spending.

French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the discussions at the NATO summit were measured and conducted with great respect, despite critical tweets from US President Donald Trump before and during the summit itself.

He emphasized that he does not believe that increasing NATO members’ defense spending from 2 to 4 percent of GDP, as President Trump proposed, is necessarily a good idea.

The French President also stated that France will meet the goal of 2 percent defense spending by 2024, emphasizing that unity within the North Atlantic Alliance is only possible if the burden of spending is fairly shared.

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Trump criticized NATO members for not achieving the goal of 2 percent spending in the near term.

Besides the US, which allocates 3.5 percent of GDP for defense, only the United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, and Estonia have so far met the target.