The U.S. call for NATO partners to step up funding for the transatlantic alliance is “a fair demand,” German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday after what she called a positive first meeting with Defense Secretary James Mattis.

Germany and other European powers were unnerved when President Donald Trump during the election campaign accused NATO allies of failing to pay their way, and described the alliance shortly before he took office last month as “obsolete.”

Trump offered some reassurance this week when he told U.S. forces: “We strongly support NATO.”

Von der Leyen said Germany, which spends less than the NATO target of 2 percent of economic output on defense, understood it needed to increase that amount.

“I think it’s a fair demand,” von der Leyen said. “If we want to jointly master the crises in the world, namely the fight against terrorism, and also put the alliance on solid footing, then everyone has to pay their share.”

She told reporters she welcomed an offer from Mattis to deepen the strategic dialogue between the two countries. He had also reiterated his clear and deep commitment to NATO….

Von der Leyen’s meeting with Mattis lasted for about an hour, twice as long as planned. She was the first European defense minister to visit him at the Pentagon.

Image: Secretary Mattis and German Defense Minister von der Leyen, Feb 10, 2017 (photo: Department of Defense/Jim Mattis)