US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced a six-month review of the US military presence in Europe, warning that “some countries will fail, and others will pass with flying colours”. Speaking at a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels, Hegseth singled out allies he accused of “free-riding” and criticised those that had imposed limits on help to US forces during the war with Iran.
The review, which Hegseth termed “Nato 3.0”, is intended to “ensure that Nato is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading” on continental security. A US official told the BBC that nothing had yet been predetermined. The announcement follows a US decision to scale back its commitments to the Nato Force Model, a high readiness force within the alliance. Details of the reduction have not been made public, but it has been indicated they include air and naval capabilities.
“US Defense Secretary Hegseth announces six-month review of US forces in Europe, criticising Nato allies for 'free-riding'.”
Hegseth said Nato’s annual dues 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”. He added: “Some of Nato’s largest economies, some of our richest countries, allies that are happiest to go on about the rules-based international order and middle powers banding together, still seem to think the era of free-riding is here.” He did not name the countries he meant.
The US wants Nato members to contribute 5% of GDP to defence, with 3.5% on core defence and 1.5% on infrastructure. Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte said defence spending had already risen €90bn last year – a jump of almost 20% – and Europeans were “already backfilling” resources the US was cutting back on. A senior Nato official conceded that “not everything” the US was withdrawing “can be absolutely replaced”, but Rutte said changes were taking effect immediately.
Former Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen echoed the criticism, telling Channel 4 News that “Europe has been ‘freeloading’ for too long”.
Meanwhile, new UK Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis attended the summit without a UK defence investment plan. He said he is “working around the clock” to ensure one is completed and provides what the military needs. “My priority now is to make sure that our armed forces have the resources that they need to do a very difficult job,” he said, adding that “the world is a very dangerous place”.