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Euractiv (16 February 2024)

Krassen Nikolov

US Republican Party frontrunner and former US president Donald Trump’s recent comments about not protecting NATO countries that do not meet their spending commitments are “completely understandable”, Bulgarian Defence Minister Todor Tagarev told journalists in Brussels on Thursday, saying that NATO member states that have made commitments should respect them.

Trump, who is currently gearing up for a likely rematch with US President Joe Biden in September, made comments about NATO defence spending that prompted European leaders to call out the controversial American figure – though Tagarev said he understood such remarks.

“Mr. Trump is on an election campaign, and his position is completely understandable. All countries made such a commitment already at the summit in 2014, that is, 10 years ago, and the fact that some have not yet achieved this 2% (of GDP for defence) is disturbing. We must all shoulder the burden together,” Tagarev told Bulgarian journalists in Brussels on Wednesday.

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