During an interview with “PBS NewsHour” Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent Nick Schifrin aired on Friday, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas responded to 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump’s comments about NATO by stating that while “all these statements from the United States are making us worried,” “we haven’t taken defense seriously enough.” And Trump’s comments have “been a wake-up call for many European countries that haven’t done enough. And I think that is a positive thing, if they start to do more.”
Schifrin asked, “This week, the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service released a new assessment that says Russia is preparing for a military confrontation with the West within the next decade. What is that based on, and can it be prevented?”
Kallas responded, “It can be prevented if we invest in our defense, because, if you think about the aggressor, the aggressor takes the step of attacking somebody when he thinks that he can win because the other side is weaker. So, we haven’t taken defense seriously enough. And that means all the NATO allies have to do more.”
Schifrin then asked, “We’ve been focusing on Europe, but I want to ask about the U.S. Is the United States a reliable partner?”
Kallas answered, “Of course all these statements from the United States are making us worried, because the United States has been the biggest ally. And the only time Article V has been used is when [the] U.S. called us. So, this is something that we need to do together. When you have aggression that pays off [in] some part in the world, it will invite other aggressors in the world to start wars elsewhere.”
Schifrin then asked, “Does Europe need to assume that the United States cannot defend Europe and cannot provide, perhaps, Europe a nuclear umbrella anymore?”
Kallas responded, “I don’t think so. We have the agreements in place in NATO, all the structures in place. What we definitely have to do ourselves is to do more, like I said before. But the United States has been a reliable partner. And, of course, we hope that it’s going to be in the future as well.”
Schifrin then specifically asked about Trump’s comments, and Kallas said, “It has been a wake-up call for many European countries that haven’t done enough. And I think that is a positive thing, if they start to do more. But, of course, statements like this, we are watching them and trying to figure out, but this is not a surprise. President — presidential candidate Trump, when he was President, he had the same ideas. But what I want to say is that over 60% of American exports go to Europe, not to Asia, but to Europe. So, it is actually to the benefit of your people, your jobs, your employment, your prosperity that we are so really tied to each other. So, if something happens in Europe, that has a very clear effect on [the] American economy.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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