NATO marks its 70th birthday at a summit next week but the celebration could well turn into an arena of political combat between the alliance's feuding leaders.

Heads of state and government will descend on London Tuesday bracing for a scrap over spending and how to deal with Russia, in a huge test of unity within NATO -- billed by its own officials as the "most successful alliance in history".

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused European countries of failing to pay their way and will be looking for evidence they are stepping up defence spending.

France's Emmanuel Macron has despaired of the club's strategic direction, saying it is suffering "brain death" -- riling other leaders and drawing a rare public rebuke from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

And, on Friday, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, furious at Western criticism of his operation in northern Syria against the Kurds, hit back with a personal attack on Macron.

"First of all, have your own brain death checked. These statements are suitable only to people like you who are in a state of brain death," Erdogan declared Friday.

In a televised speech, Erdogan said he would "say this at NATO".

French officials summoned the Turkish envoy in Paris to complain while a US administration official said that many members would tackle Turkey over its purchase of a Russian S-400 air defence system.

This combustible line-up is dropping into a Britain gripped by a frenetic national election campaign, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson's friendship with Trump under attack from opposition parties.

Personal duels aside, the NATO summit agenda is pretty thin. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is hoping simply to get the leaders to sign off on decisions already taken.

Last year's NATO summit in Brussels went off the rails when Trump launched a tirade at Merkel during a televised breakfast meeting.

The week before this summit has seen a stage-managed series of spending announcements, all designed to send what one diplomat called a "political signal" to appease Trump.

- 'Trump is right' -

Stoltenberg was at pains to point out on Friday that non-US defence spending has grown for four straight years and is on course to hit $130 billion next year.

A Trump administration official expected 18 of the 29 members to meet the alliance's two percent target by 2024.

Stoltenberg said Trump was right about Europe and Canada needing to spend more, but not "to please President Trump".

"They should invest in defence because we are facing new challenges, our security environment has become more dangerous," he told reporters.

Stoltenberg is attempting to mollify Trump ahead of the summit by talking up a billion-dollar contract with US planemaker Boeing to upgrade the organisation's reconnaissance planes.

NATO members have also agreed to lower the cap on US contributions to the alliance's relatively small $2.5 billion operating budget, meaning Germany and other European countries -- but not France -- will pay more.

But such measures are a drop in the ocean compared to the tens of billions of dollars Europeans would have to spend to meet their promise to spend two percent of their national GDPs on defence.

In 2014, the allies promised to meet this goal within a decade. But this week Merkel admitted that economic powerhouse Germany would not hit this sum before "the early 2030s".

Stoltenberg insists Trump's tone towards NATO has been more positive of late, and a senior US administration official said Friday Trump's spending campaign had been "spectacularly successful."

- 'Still working out what he wants' -

But Macron's broadside to an Economist interview earlier this month took many by surprise.

The French leader stood by his remarks after talks with Stoltenberg, saying NATO was failing to address relations with Russia and what do to about Turkey.

Macron's forthright comments have drawn sharp public criticism, both from Germany and from eastern European NATO countries that feel threatened by Russia.

An official from Macron's office told reporters that NATO lacks political direction and relies too much on the US.

"We can't sweep debates under the carpet because we're afraid the Americans will disengage further" he added.

A Trump administration official on Friday dismissed the "brain death" comments, saying "President Macron is still kind of working out what he wants out of the group".

The official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said Trump will tell the NATO summit that China and Russia remain major challenges.

"China above all," the official added.

Tomas Valasek, a former Slovak ambassador to NATO, said even if there was merit in opening debate, Macron had overstepped the mark.

"NATO leaders have a responsibility that think tankers don't," said Valasek, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe thinktank.

"If you run one of the nuclear powers and in some ways the most powerful military in Europe you don't want to feed the perception of NATO disunity and I'm afraid that's what he's done."

At the London summit, leaders will consider separate French and German proposals for expert committees to mull how NATO can improve its strategic thinking.

Stoltenberg last week welcomed the German plan to create a group of experts -- chaired by Stoltenberg himself -- but was cool on the French plan.

No formal statement by all 29 leaders will be issued. Instead there will be a "short declaration on the 'success story of NATO'", a diplomat said.

Macron defends 'wake-up call' for NATO after talks with chief
Paris (AFP) Nov 28, 2019 - French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday stood by his claim that NATO is suffering "brain death" with no strategic cooperation among members, after talks with alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg ahead of a high-stakes meeting outside London next week.

"I totally stand by raising these ambiguities because I believe it was irresponsible of us to keep talking about financial and technical matters given the stakes we currently face," Macron said at a joint news conference after the talks.

"A wake-up call was necessary," he said, regarding NATO's failure to address pressing challenges such as relations with Russia, the subject of Turkey, or even "who is the enemy?"

It is no longer Russia or China, Macron said: "Our common enemy... is the terrorism which has struck us all."

Macron's "brain death" comment, published in an interview with the Economist magazine this month, drew sharp criticism from allies, not least Stoltenberg, who warned against undermining the transatlantic alliance.

Stoltenberg said Thursday that "in uncertain times, we need strong multilateral institutions like NATO," and that he had "good and open discussions" with Macron.

He praised in particular France's role in fighting the spread of Islamic terrorism in the Sahel region of Western Africa, where 13 French soldiers were killed this week when two of their helicopters collided in Mali.

- Call for help in Sahel -

Macron said that at next week's NATO meeting in Watford, northwest of London, he would urge allies to get more involved in the Sahel fight.

While Britain has provided helicopters and security personnel to help France's 4,500-member Barkhane force in West Africa, and the US provides intelligence support, Paris has so far failed to persuade other allies to make a significant contribution.

Underscoring that France's forces were acting "on behalf of everyone", Macron said: "A bigger engagement by the allies is obviously something that would be quite positive."

Speaking later to Europe 1 radio Stoltenberg said that if Macron requested NATO's help the alliance would consider the appeal "very seriously".

Macron on Thursday also defended his push for a rapprochement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, rebuffing charges of naivety.

"Has the absence of dialogue with Russia made the European continent safer?... I don't think so," he argued.

In a controversial move, he suggested talks with Moscow over its call for a moratorium on deploying mid-range nuclear missiles in Europe.

The proposal came after the US walked away from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia earlier this year.

NATO diplomats have voiced concern about even considering Russia's request to freeze the status quo, pointing out that it would give Moscow, which has already deployed the missiles, a military advantage over NATO, which has not.

Macron said he merely considered Moscow's request as a "basis for discussions".

The French president, who wants to wean Europe off its military dependence on the US, also insisted that European countries be involved in any efforts to forge a new missiles pact.

- Turkey reprimanded -

A combative Macron also again took aim at Turkey over its unilateral decision to attack the Western-backed Kurdish militia that had been leading the fight against the Islamic State in Syria.

"I respect the security interests of our Turkish ally, which has suffered numerous attacks on its soil," Macron said.

"But you cannot on the one hand say we are allies and demand solidarity in that regard and on the other hand present your allies with the fait accompli of a military operation that endangers the actions of the anti-IS coalition of which NATO is a member."

The comments set the stage for a possibly fractious NATO summit in London on December 3-4, which will be attended by US and Turkish presidents Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Last year's gathering got off to a stormy start, with Trump calling Germany a "captive" of Russia and demanding that NATO members double their defence spending.

Fresh tensions appeared within the alliance this year, after Trump's surprise decision to withdraw US troops from northeast Syria, a move that cleared the way for Turkey to attack the Kurdish forces.

Trump in turn has repeatedly accused European NATO members of freeloading on the US by falling short of their commitment to spend at least two percent of GDP on defence.

Stoltenberg confirmed that Washington would cut its funding to the alliance's operating budget to 16 percent of the total from 22 percent, with Germany and other nations taking up the slack.

Macron was dismissive of the budget debate.

"If some people want to see an example of what they term 'cost-sharing', they can come Monday to the ceremony France is organising" for the 13 soldiers killed in a midair helicopter collision while fighting insurgents in Mali, he said.

"There they will see the cost."

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Berlin denies reports of Merkel-Macron clash over NATO
Berlin (AFP) Nov 25, 2019
Berlin on Monday denied reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron clashed over dinner after the French leader described the NATO defence alliance as suffering from "brain death". The two European leaders met on November 10, a day after Germany marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. Their dinner came just days after Macron stunned NATO with his remarks, and prompting Merkel to slap down what she called "sweeping judgements" that were unnecessa ... read more