Trump said last week that he is considering withdrawing his country from the  North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Trump is offended, but also surprised, that Europe has not wanted to join in an attack on Iran.

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom say NATO is intended for collective defense, and the attack on Iran does not fit that description.

However, NATO has previously taken part in operations that were not collective defense. For example, in 1999, it bombed Kosovo to prevent ethnic cleansing.

Luik said Kosovo is a good example. "NATO has participated in several international operations. Kosovo is a good example, but also Afghanistan, because although there was talk of triggering Article 5, strictly speaking, that subsequent operation, the Afghanistan operation, was based on a NATO decision but was not directly Article 5," he said.

Estonia's ambassador thinks Europe should avoid rhetoric.

"For example, I do not like the phrase that this is not our war. One can look at it in different ways — whose war is it then? — but to underline it in that way is also unnecessary. The simplest thing, which Estonia has also said and which is appropriate for any ally to say, is that we are ready to assist, we have heard our ally's request," Luik said.

In any case, no one is sending their ships into the war zone at the moment.

"Including the United States. If Europe were to send its ships to the Strait of Hormuz now, the Americans would mainly have to deal with protecting those ships," Luik added.

But Trump is offended and angry. However, Luik does not believe the USA will leave the alliance.

"I do not believe in any withdrawal from NATO. There are many different political reasons why leaving NATO is extremely difficult. In fact, when you think about it, NATO membership has been very beneficial for the United States," Luik said.

Is this the most serious internal dispute in the Atlantic alliance?

"Perhaps the most complicated was the 1956 Suez Crisis, where the situation was exactly the opposite. France and the United Kingdom went to war, but the United States stepped back and demanded that France and the United Kingdom immediately end that war," Luik said.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!