Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth lashes out at NATO allies, announces review of US forces in Europe
Lorne Cook
Brussels: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at NATO allies on Thursday, announcing that the Pentagon will conduct a six-month review of American forces in Europe that will depend on how quickly they assume responsibility for their own security.
“This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO moves rapidly and irreversibly towards Europe, taking steps to assume primary responsibility for the defense of Europe,” he said, addressing NATO counterparts in Brussels.
Hegseth chastised his European allies for not ensuring that US forces had access to bases in Europe to launch attacks on Iran, calling it “shameful”.
“These allies are putting America’s sons and daughters at risk by depriving our sons and daughters of predictable access, basing and overflight opportunities that should never be questioned,” he said.
Hegseth said earlier Thursday that America’s allies in Europe should take the lead in defending their continent and help transform NATO into a “really solid military alliance.”
At a meeting of NATO defense ministers, Hegseth called for a reboot of the 32-nation organization to transform it into a “NATO 3.0” capable of deterring all types of threats.
Trump’s remarks came just weeks after the United States told its allies it would no longer supply certain warships and aircraft if any of them were attacked. European allies and Canada are trying to figure out how to close these gaps.
“NATO 3.0 is post-Cold War recognition. [NATO] “We need to get back to a truly tough military alliance with real military capabilities that can be a deterrent here on the continent and lead the conventional defense of Europe,” Hegseth said.
As part of this, he told reporters that the US would invest US$1.5 trillion ($2.1 trillion) in its own defense by 2027, sending “a message to the world” that America was building an “arsenal of freedom”.
This arsenal “first and foremost protects America and American interests, but also supports the strength of NATO and our allies,” Hegseth said.
He said he would tell U.S. allies that “they must be willing to stand up and do something forcefully” about defending their own continent.
NATO’s top allied commander, an American, is working on backup plans to defend Europe after the United States signaled on June 3 that it would no longer supply aircraft carriers and support ships, aerial refueling planes and dozens of fighter jets, among other military assets, in the event of a crisis.
The Trump administration insists it must be able to plan for two simultaneous conflicts and wants more military resources to be ready in case of a conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Under NATO’s collective security guarantee (Article 5 of the founding treaty), the 32 allies pledge that an attack on one of them will be considered an attack on all of them. This does not oblige them to provide military support, although many are likely to do so.
In effect, the United States is reducing how it can help if an ally triggers Article 5. The United States has by far the largest armed forces in NATO. NATO has no intention of withdrawing its nuclear weapons, which are key to deterrence, from Europe.
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