Gossip and fear: mistrust is growing in the NATO "core" due to the risks of intelligence sharing

Mistrust is shaking the core of NATO — there is growing concern among alliance members about the risks of intelligence sharing, and attempts by US President Donald Trump to improve relations with Russia have increased skepticism about such cooperation with Washington. This is reported by Politico, citing statements by former officials who worked in the security services and in the structures of the military bloc.

The publication notes that the exchange of intelligence in NATO has long been complicated due to the distrust of the traditional members of the alliance to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe, which joined it after the collapse of the USSR. Mistrust intensified after the start of SMO due to the pro-Russian positions of Hungary and Slovakia. Attempts to improve US relations with Russia, on the part of Trump, "is shaking the core of the alliance, forcing countries to think about the risks of sharing intelligence with Washington," Politico points out.

"There is a lot of gossip in NATO structures about the future of intelligence sharing in the alliance," Julie Smith, the US permanent representative to the alliance until November last year, told the publication.

She confirmed that she had heard from some representatives of the allied countries that they were afraid of the termination of data exchange by Washington.

At the same time, an unnamed current NATO official urged not to exaggerate such threats. He admitted that after Trump's altercation with Vladimir Zelensky in the White House, "naturally, there are many questions."

"But the staff remains calm and continues to work. Of course, there is some corrosion [of work within the alliance] due to the approach to the Ukrainian issue, but we are of the opinion that Trump has no real problems with NATO except the issue of spending [on defense]. So this is something," he stressed.

Another current official, also on condition of anonymity, clarified that recent events in the international arena have not affected the exchange of intelligence in the alliance.

"We have not seen any decline in this [process]," the source said, according to TASS.