BUDGET/NATO/TERRORISM/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The U.S. has reached an agreement with holdout France to increase NATO funding for counterterrorism programs, clearing a significant obstacle to the Trump administration’s agenda for the alliance.
Under the deal, allied diplomats said, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s total budget, now $1.6 billion, will rise next year by roughly 1%. While the budget rises each year and the increase is modest, the extra money will allow the alliance to expand its to counterterrorism training programs.
The French have been forcefully opposed to increasing common funding in recent years, particularly for counterterrorism initiatives, and have expressed concerns about how the many is spent.
Many members do not see counterterrorism as the alliance’s core mission but at a NATO meeting of leaders in May there was broad agreement to expand training…
Allied diplomats said the full slate of counterterrorism initiatives being funded is still being discussed and NATO defense ministers may discuss options at their meeting next month.”
-Julian E. Barnes, “NATO to Increase Counterterrorism Funding in Line With Trump Agenda,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 5, 2017 08:18am