NATO joins forces in fight against ISIS - but it's branded as POINTLESS in Germany
NATO’s decision to join the US-led coalition against Islamic State (ISIS) and launch counter-terrorism measures is not going to make a difference, a think tank director has warned.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced the alliance will join the fight against ISIS
The military alliance agreed to join the US-led coalition against ISIS last week.
It also plans to set up a new intelligence unit to track foreign fighters and create a new post of counter-terrorism coordinator.
But Germany has branded the decisions largely symbolic with experts warning NATO’s actions will not be a game changer.
The original sin was to form a coalition run by the US, not NATO, so NATO's efforts are not going to be a game changer
Tomas Vasalek, a former Slovak ambassador to the alliance and now the director of the Carnegie Europe think tank,said: "The counter-terrorism measures are a fig leaf.
"The original sin was to form a coalition run by the US, not NATO, so NATO's efforts are not going to be a game changer."
Adam Thomson, a former British ambassador to NATO and now director of the European Leadership Network think-tank in London, said: "Not all allies accept that NATO is an acceptable brand in Iraq.
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"They are also worried about a slippery slope that leaves NATO holding the baby should the U.S. role diminish."
US President Donald Trump’s first meeting with NATO has left diplomats concerned for the military alliance’s future.
Mr Trump used his first visit to NATO headquarters to publicly denounce Europe's low defence spending and urged leaders to focus on illegal immigration.
One senior European NATO diplomat said: "Trump showed we have fundamental differences about what NATO is for.
"NATO is designed to defend the territory of its members, not stop terrorism or immigration. We are heading in opposite directions."
US President Donald Trump’s first meeting with NATO has left diplomats concerned for NATO's future
Trump used his first visit to NATO headquarters to publicly denounce Europe's low defence spending
But NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stressed Mr Trump had sent "a strong signal" of support amid concerns from France and Germany over NATO taking a bigger role in the fight against ISIS.
France and Germany have resisted, worried that the Western alliance's presence may irk Arab members of the coalition and that NATO may be pushed into another open-ended foreign assignment.