The US announced yesterday the start of a review of its military presence in Europe, amid statements to this effect by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett in June during a meeting of NATO defense ministers, Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
„As the minister said then, this will be a real review designed to ensure that NATO moves quickly and irreversibly towards a Europe that takes primary responsibility for its conventional defense“, explained US Undersecretary of Defense for Political Affairs Elbridge Colby, the second-in-command at the Pentagon.
„The result of this review will be to accelerate NATO's transition to a more solid, fairer and a more resilient alliance“, Colby also said.
The United States has sharply criticized European countries that denied American forces the use of NATO bases on their territory during the war against Iran, AFP notes.
Hegseth also threatened the North Atlantic Alliance with a reduction in American contributions to its budget if some countries refuse to comply with commitments made last year at the NATO summit in The Hague.
At that time, the allies promised to allocate at least 5% of their gross domestic product to security spending by 2035, of which 3.5% would be strictly military spending.