brussels<u+2014>the north atlantic treaty organization faces one of the biggest challenges since the end of the cold war with the election of donald trump, a persistent critic of the alliance. the president-elect has questioned whether the u.s. should be committed to the defense of countries that fail to spend enough on their militaries. he has suggested a softer stance against russia and urged the 28 nato allies to focus more on fighting terrorism. on wednesday, nato secretary-general jens stoltenberg congratulated mr. trump on his election victory but delivered a stern reminder of america<u+2019>s obligations to its allies. <u+201c>nato<u+2019>s security guarantee is a treaty commitment,<u+201d> said mr. stoltenberg, who criticized mr. trump<u+2019>s comments during the campaign. <u+201c>all allies have made a solemn commitment to defend each other. this is something absolutely unconditioned.<u+201d> mr. stoltenberg said the only time this collective defense provision of the washington treaty, nato<u+2019>s founding document, has been invoked is after the sept. 11 terror attacks on america. he added that nato remains in afghanistan working on the counterterrorism mission there. since the 2014 annexation of crimea by russia, the u.s. and nato have taken an increasingly hard line against russia and its president, vladimir putin. but such a stance is unlikely to sit well with mr. trump . during the campaign, he has signaled his admiration of mr. putin and said the u.s. and russia should do more to fight terrorism together, echoing moscow<u+2019>s position. if mr. trump tries to reorient the alliance<u+2019>s stance on russia, nato might be forced to rethink its plan to deploy 4,000 troops, including american soldiers, to the baltic states and poland next year. mr. trump could also reconsider plans by the obama administration to send a heavy infantry brigade to eastern europe early next year. anders fogh rasmussen, a former nato secretary-general, said the alliance should hold its summit as early next year as possible and send a clear signal to russia that the alliance security guarantee remains in place. the last two american presidents have entered office seeking to reset ties with moscow but with tensions over syria and ukraine, relations between russia and the west are at a low point, mr. rasmussen noted. mr. rasmussen said despite mr. trump<u+2019>s desire to improve relations with russia, the new president elect will <u+201c>soon realize the best approach with russia is a firm hand.<u+201d> while mr. trump has repeatedly called on nato to focus more on counterterrorism, he has also praised the alliance for creating a post in the organization aimed at improving intelligence-sharing among allies. douglas lute, the u.s. ambassador to nato, pointed to the appointment of a new assistant secretary-general for intelligence as an example of how the alliance is taking a more aggressive role in the terrorism fight. <u+201c>he has been critical of nato<u+2019>s role in counterterrorism, but most recently he has noted that nato has taken steps<u+2026>in particular in appointing a top-tier official centered on intelligence,<u+201d> mr. lute said. mr. lute said throughout the history of the alliance, nato has enjoyed bipartisan support in washington and proved itself able to adapt to new political leaders. <u+201c>nato is adapting to new realities,<u+201d> he said. while many republicans are skeptical of mr. trump<u+2019>s approach to russia, senior congressional officials share his view about a wider role for the alliance in the fight against terrorism. still, mr. trump may find it hard to refocus the alliance on fighting terrorism. german and french officials remain deeply skeptical of a larger nato role either in anti-islamic state military operations in europe or fighting terrorists in europe. mr. trump<u+2019>s demands that its european allies increase military spending or risk losing u.s. support in a conflict have created worry in eastern europe and the baltic states, though many diplomats noted wednesday that countries such as poland and estonia have sharply increased their spending. european diplomats expressed a combination about worry over mr. trump<u+2019>s position and a hope that the bipartisan skepticism of russia in the u.s. congress would constrain a large shift in american foreign policy or participation in the alliance. the biggest questions were in eastern europe, where one diplomat said officials were privately alarmed at the prospect that mr. trump might upend longstanding u.s. policy. publicly, however, officials were trying to put a happy face on the prospect of a sharp change in the u.s. approach to russia. hannes hanso, the estonian defense minister, said the u.s. relationship with his country was based on institutions, not personalities and expressed hope that the new administration will see <u+201c>we cannot live and be secure without each other.<u+201d> mr. hanso added he agreed with mr. trump that european military spending must rise and noted his country was spending 2% of its gdp on its military, the nato standard <u+201c>there are some things i agree with when trump is talking security,<u+201d> mr. hanso said. <u+201c>we need to pay more for our security in europe. estonia is a country that is doing that.<u+201d> president sauli niinist<u+00f6> of finland, a nato partner, noted that mr. trump<u+2019>s victory speech signaled a different, more constructive tone, and said he hoped that would extend to the new president<u+2019>s approach to europe and nato. <u+201c>i have full trust that the u.s.a. keeps its word, not only to nato, but to the international community,<u+201d> he said. write to julian e. barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com
in trump, nato faces a challenge - wsj
julian e. barnes