BERLIN β The leaders of Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Poland pledged to strengthen NATO's European pillar ahead of a Wednesday meeting between NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a statement from the German government.
The so-called E5 group met in Berlin on Tuesday to coordinate their position. The leaders emphasized the need for increased European defense spending and a more balanced transatlantic burden-sharing within the alliance.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk issued a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to NATO and the collective defense principle under Article 5.
The meeting comes ahead of Rutte's visit to Washington, where he is expected to discuss NATO's future direction and European security commitments with Trump. The European leaders stressed that a strong NATO requires both a robust European contribution and continued U.S. engagement.
No specific new financial commitments were announced, but the leaders agreed to work toward common defense projects and to present a unified European position in future NATO discussions.
