President Biden pledged an “ironclad” commitment to America’s allies on Tuesday as he sought to reassure NATO members that the United States would not abandon its international obligations despite the threats of aggression by Russia and disruption by his all-but-certain fall election rival, former President Donald J. Trump.
Hosting the leaders of Poland at the White House, Mr. Biden made a show of defiance not only against President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who continues to wage war on Ukraine, but also, implicitly at least, against Mr. Trump, who has said he would “encourage” Russia to attack NATO members that do not spend enough on their militaries.
“When we stand together, no force on earth is more powerful,” Mr. Biden said, citing former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, the Czech-born diplomat who championed NATO membership for Poland, Hungary and her homeland, finalized on this day in 1999 with the support of Mr. Biden, then a senator. “I believed that then, and I believe it now,” he added.
The meeting with President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland marked the 25th anniversary of their country’s accession to NATO, which was the beginning of a quarter-century post-Cold War expansion of the alliance into parts of Europe previously dominated by the old Soviet Union. Just this month, NATO formally welcomed Sweden, which like Finland joined in response to Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in 2022, increasing the alliance to 32 members, up from 16 when the Berlin Wall fell.
Mr. Biden used the occasion to announce $300 million in additional weapons and military equipment for Ukraine, a small fraction of what he has asked Congress for but all he could squeeze out of savings from previous arms transfers without additional legislative authority. He pressed House Republican leaders to stop blocking legislation passed by the Senate for $60 billion in security aid to Ukraine, a measure that has bipartisan support and would almost surely pass if brought to the floor.
“We must act before it literally is too late, before it’s too late, because as Poland remembers, Russia won’t stop at Ukraine,” Mr. Biden said. “Putin will keep going, putting Europe, the United States and the entire free world at risk.”
Mr. Biden praised the Polish leaders not only for investing in the alliance but also for taking in about one million Ukrainians who have fled the war. “You’re doing God’s work,” he told the leaders. “You really are. It’s incredible what you’re doing, what the Polish people are doing.”
He also promised Poland a $2 billion military loan and approved the sale of 96 Apache attack helicopters to Warsaw.
Poland sits on the frontline of the alliance, perpetually wary of Russian revanchism and staunchly supportive of Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, as it defends itself against Mr. Putin’s forces. Poland spends more on its military as a proportion than any other member of the alliance, nearly 4 percent of its economy, twice the alliance’s goal. Mr. Duda used the White House visit to propose that NATO increase its target from 2 percent of gross domestic product to 3 percent.
“Other allies must take more responsibility for the security of the alliance as a whole,” Mr. Duda said as he sat with Mr. Biden in the East Room of the White House. “Two percent was good 10 years ago. Now 3 percent is required in response to the full-scale war launched by Russia right beyond NATO’s eastern border.”
The alliance’s leaders agreed in 2014 to the 2 percent goal, but it was a nonbinding aspiration to meet by 2024. While several American presidents have pushed NATO to do more for its own defense, Mr. Trump was more bellicose in demanding that allies raise their military spending and spoke of it as if they owed the money to the United States, which was not true.
Under Mr. Trump, the number of NATO members meeting the 2 percent goal increased to nine from six. Under Mr. Biden, it has doubled to 18, reflecting rising fear of Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. The United States spends 3.5 percent of its gross domestic product on the military, and most of the other top spenders are in Eastern Europe, closer to Russia. Collectively, the European allies are spending 2 percent of their combined gross domestic product this year, or $380 billion.
While Mr. Biden did not mention Mr. Trump by name on Tuesday, Mr. Tusk seemed to allude to comments in which the former president scoffed at the mutual defense obligation in Article 5 of the NATO treaty. “We treat our obligations seriously, more than anyone else in Europe,” Mr. Tusk said. “And we hope that none of our NATO partners will undermine the most important obligation, which is Article 5 of the treaty.”
The visit by the Polish leaders was the first since a landmark election in October, when opposition parties defeated the ruling Law and Justice party, a right-wing faction accused of subverting democracy as it consolidated power over major institutions like the judiciary, the news media, the central bank and large state-controlled corporations.
Mr. Duda and Mr. Tusk, who was installed in December as prime minister, are fierce rivals who have clashed repeatedly at home. Mr. Duda is an ally of Law and Justice who curried favor with Mr. Trump when he was in office, while Mr. Tusk is a veteran centrist who during a previous stint as prime minister from 2007 to 2014 worked with Mr. Biden, then the vice president.
Their conflict led to a dramatic showdown in January when Mr. Duda gave shelter in the presidential palace to two former officials from his party previously convicted of abuse of power. Mr. Tusk accused Mr. Duda of obstruction of justice, and the police were sent into the palace to arrest the former officials.
But in a measure of how seriously Poland takes the Russian threat, the two rivals agreed to put aside their differences for their joint visit with Mr. Biden. “I differ politically with President Andrzej Duda on almost everything,” Mr. Tusk wrote in Polish on social media, “but when it comes to the security of our homeland, we must and will act together. Not only during a visit to the USA.”
Source link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/12/us/politics/biden-poland-nato-duda-tusk.html