Arabic version: الولايات المتحدة تراجع وجود الناتو بعد انتقادات من وزير الدفاع

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has severely criticised some of America’s NATO allies during a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels, announcing a six-month review of the presence of US forces in Europe. According to BBC News, Hegseth indicated that the review, termed NATO 3.0, aims to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading on security on the continent.

Hegseth specifically pointed out that some countries have been “free-riding” on the defense efforts of others, suggesting that their contributions to NATO’s goals are inadequate. He emphasized that the annual dues for NATO would be “contingent on other countries meeting their defence spending targets; where other allies do not spend with urgency, our dues contributions will go down”.

The announcement comes in light of a recent US decision to scale back its commitments to NATO’s high readiness force known as the NATO Force Model (NFM). While details remain undisclosed, it has been indicated that the reductions will affect air and naval capabilities. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte noted that European defence spending increased by €90 billion last year, highlighting ongoing efforts to backfill resources as the US adjusts its commitments.

Additionally, UK Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis attended the summit without a UK defence investment plan, following the resignation of his predecessor John Healey. Rutte expressed expectations for member states to present clear, concrete and credible plans to meet the agreed defence spending targets ahead of an upcoming summit in Ankara on 7-8 July.