Trump's handing out cards at NATO. Europe on its knees, Rutte bows

Trump had to be praised, Rutte had to bow down, and Europe was on its knees again. Although NATO confirmed Article 5 and increased spending, the German press warns: the safety of the continent inactive depends on the whims of 1 man. And this one, though he did not break the summit, inactive plays allies and lets his eye out to Putin.

The results of the NATO summit in The Hague, and in peculiar the confirmation of Article 5, are better than expected by the German press. Commentators inform Europeans against “a deceptive sense of security” and General Secretary Mark Rutte accuses “servicefulness” towards Donald Trump.

„Sueddeutsche Zeitung“: top of superlatives

"The NATO Summit in The Hague will be past as the summit of superlatives. The North Atlantic Alliance has never launched so much money in specified a short time, at least on paper," writes Daniel Broessler.

Referring to the function of president Donald Trump, the author stressed that so far no president in the past of the Alliance has forced allies “in specified an unwound manner” to “dance as he will play them”. "Never again was the fear of the whims of 1 individual so great," Broessler said.

The summit can be considered historic, but not due to an unprecedentedly short final declaration. Historically, “no 1 knows this time whether the declaration is worth a part of paper on which it was written,” writes the commentator.

Europeans cannot let America to turn on them. That's why everything was done to make Trump feel good. The president of the United States recognized NATO and Article 5. This is simply a good consequence at the moment, and surely no worse than was feared.

The summit in The Hague is simply a turning point due to the fact that the European alliance countries are yet looking to America to drastically limit its presence on the continent. The safety of Europeans will depend on their ability to rapidly fill gaps arising from the withdrawal of Americans. "This will cost quite a few money," concludes Broessler.

„Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“: Trump is inactive working on rapprochement with Russia

“From Trump we will not hear that Article 5 of NATO is simply a sacred oath, as stated by Biden earlier,” writes Nikolas Busse. In his opinion, his message of allied commitments can be regarded as a concession, although the president of the United States has been "a small lavender" on this matter.

The change in Trump's attitude to the Alliance stems from the fact that he could present the summit results as his success. It has prompted Europeans to drastically increase military spending, which has been well received by its political base and gives America more area for manoeuvre, primarily for action in Asia.

Commentator stated that regardless of the NATO summit, Trump is inactive working on a rapprochement with Russia. In addition, with his isolationist remarks, the president of America planted uncertainty as to whether, in the event of a conflict, the United States would actually be fighting against Russia.

According to Busse, even during the Cold War, the answer to this question was not conclusive. Europeans must so "raise the barrier against Putin" themselves.

"Tagesspiegel": besides much praise for Trump

NATO Secretary-General praised Trump, "as if he wanted to keep the emperor in a good mood," writes Stephan-Andreas Castorff.

"Praise is part of the strategy. Who doesn't enjoy compliments? However, besides much is unhealthy and can be unpleasant," writes the commentator that while praising Trump's expanses, Mark Rutte "balanced on a thin line".

According to Castorff, NATO's secretary-general behaved "servantly", which puts both his and the president in a negative light – "Trump, due to the fact that he evidently needs it, and Rutte, that he agrees to it".

"Tageszeitung": Europe on its knees before Trump

The Hague was primarily about "surprising" the president of the United States. “Europe must decide whether it will stay on its knees or emergence from its knees,” writes Anastasia Zejnelli.

Historically, not only are the highly advanced spending on defence, but besides the treatment for Trump's favour," writes the commentator. The NATO summit was 1 of the large “souls on their knees”. In her opinion, the overstepping of Trump has "a fatal consequence" as it leaves Europeans in "false certainty" security. They forget that antipathy against European allies is strong in the American government.

"Europeans must decide whether they will stay on their knees or emergence from their knees to discuss the sovereign NATO, the centre of which lies in Europe", says the conclusions.

"Tradeblatt": Europe cannot number on Trump

“The flattery paid off. The president of the United States has not broken the NATO summit. However, Europeans cannot sink into a false sense of security,” says the leading paper of German business circles. Commentator Moritz Koch writes about “the service” of Mark Rutte to “the capricious American”.

The Alliance lacks something that is more crucial than money – it lacks unity in the analysis of basic threats," Koch writes. As he stressed, NATO's most crucial task is to deter Russia, but the USA, Hungary and Slovakia, if they already share this view, are only limited.

"Trump does not see an imperialist war criminal in Putin, but a possible partner," says "Handelsblatt". The commentator pointed out that only a passage of the phrase "a long-term threat by Russia" was possible in the final declaration of the summit. There is besides no strategy for Russia. "Soyusz is in a paradoxical situation – thanks to Finland and Sweden's accession and drastically increased defence spending, he has been the strongest for decades and, on the another hand, he is strategically weakened by the deficiency of agreement on fundamental issues", we read in the conclusions.