Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that the United States will conduct a six-month review into the nation’s involvement with NATO.
“And so, we’re doubling down on our effort to make NATO what it always was supposed to be, a balanced alliance with Europe in the lead for its own defense, NATO 3.0 and to make that a reality,” Hegseth said in Brussels. “I’m announcing today a six-month Department of War review that will examine America’s force posture and basing in Europe. Up to six months could be less. Let’s call it the NATO 3.0 review.”
“This review will be conducted with the benefit of inputs from the United States military, from European command, it will involve consultations with the U. S. Congress and with our allies but make no mistake about it. This will be a real review,” Hegseth explained. “It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe, stepping up to ensure our forces are postured for America’s global needs, and stepping up to make sure that our access, basing, and overflight are clearly delineated and assured any other country would do the same at the same time.”
Hegseth declared that the United States’ annual NATO contributions will be “contingent on other countries meeting their defense spending targets. Where other allies do not spend with urgency, our dues contributions will go down. NATO will be a two-way street.” He said the position was “only common sense.”
Hegseth’s comments follow similar urges made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this year. “I know why NATO is good for Europe, but why is NATO good for America? Because it gives us bases in the region that allow us to project power during a contingency in the Middle East or somewhere else,” Rubio said, as per reports. “So, when that is the key rationale for why you’re in NATO, and then you have countries like Spain denying us the use of these bases, well then why are you in NATO?”
NATO chief Mark Rutte said this week that the organization is ready to take more responsibility for its defense spending. Rutte explained that the group has “looked at the division of labor in the context of conventional forces” and found that European members, as well as Canada, are “ready, willing, and able to do more.”
