"Ministers in Germany and France shot back at US President Donald Trump on for his comments claiming that the US had "never needed" its European NATO allies despite it being the only NATO member in history to invoke the mutual defense clause Article 5 and alleging that non-US troops in Afghanistan had "stayed a little back" from the frontlines. Germany's Defense MinsterBoris Pistorius said Trump should apologize, while also implying that he was not exactly holding his breath."
""It would be a sign of decency, of respect and of insight," he said on ARD television. "But we all know how the US president operates." Pistorius also said the inaccuracy of Trump's claims were not up for debate. "To talk this way about allies is simply indecent and disrespectful. Everyone stood there, stood at the US' side. To assert otherwise today is simply not true," he said."
"Meanwhile, speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he had stressed to Trump the cost paid by NATO allies in Afghanistan. "For every two American soldiers who paid the ultimate price, one soldier of an ally or a partner, a NATO ally or a partner country, did not return home," Rutte said on Monday. "I know that America greatly appreciates the efforts.""
German and French ministers rejected claims that the United States "never needed" European NATO allies and that non-US troops "stayed a little back" in Afghanistan. Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called for an apology and described such comments as indecent and disrespectful, stressing that allies stood by the US. Germany became one of the largest European contributors to the Afghan mission, with 59 Bundeswehr soldiers killed and roughly 500 wounded. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte highlighted allied sacrifices, noting that for every two American soldiers killed one allied or partner soldier did not return home.
Read at www.dw.com
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