All eyes were on the 2018 NATO summit in Belgium in the first half of July, as U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to lambaste NATO members’ inability to meet their commitment to spend two percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on military matters. Taking a swing at Germany, he was quick to attack the controversial Nord Stream 2 (NS2) gas pipeline, an $11 billion mega-project aimed at delivering Russian gas to German shores. President Trump alleged that the US pays disproportionately for Europe’s security and protects it from Russia, while Berlin dishes out billions of euros to Russia for energy. The grounds for President Trump’s criticism may be debated, but he has a point: NS2 should not be built because it will sever long-standing ties between NATO allies, many of whom are also members of the European Union (EU). (…)
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