Theresa May: United Kingdom will come to allied countries’ help in case of an attack
The United Kingdom’s prime minister, Theresa May, confirmed on Monday that the UK would come to Estonia or Latvia’s help if there was a military attack on their territory. May said that the same applied to the next president of the United States, Donald Trump.
May said in an interview with Sky News that British soldiers would participate in military exercises in Estonia this year, which also showed how serious NATO was about its commitment to all of its allies.
NATO’s Article 5 demanded that the United Kingdom would come to the help of any of its allies in case of a military attack on them, May said. Based on the conversations she had had with members of the incoming new administration in the U.S., they would remain as committed to the alliance as Britain, the prime minister added.
The fact that British units were participating in this year’s NATO exercises in Estonia showed how seriously the alliance took its obligations, May said.
Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO, and said during his campaign that he didn’t see a reason why the United States should come to the defense of any member country that didn’t meet its obligations towards the alliance. With his comment, Trump hinted at the fact that several allied countries are not spending the required minimum 2% of GDP on national defense. Estonia is one of the allies that does, and the current government under Prime Minister Jüri Ratas has said on several occasions that it would not only continue to do so, but increase its defense investments.
Watch the interview here:
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn