The United States does not intend to leave the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This was the message that the new US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, wanted to deliver, in a respectful tone, to his European allies during his first ministerial meeting in Brussels on Thursday, April 3. "President Trump has made clear he supports NATO; we're going to remain in NATO. He's made clear," he stated.

While the US president launched a global trade war on Wednesday, targeting European Union (EU) countries but also the United Kingdom, Turkey and Norway, all members of NATO, he also threatened to take control of Greenland, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, another NATO ally. And while ceasefire negotiations in Ukraine are stalling, Rubio did not intend to provoke his 31 allies further, but instead wanted to reassure Europeans who were concerned and scalded by the aggressiveness of the US administration.

"Some of this hysteria (...) that I see in the global media and some domestic media in the United States about NATO is unwarranted," declared the secretary of state, overlooking his president's remarks in early March that questioned the application of Article 5 and NATO's principle of mutual defense for "delinquent" states.

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