Hegseth did not say whether the review would lead to a reduction of U.S. forces deployed on the continent. He said NATO allies “must step up.”
“President Trump has been very clear on this point for many years and over two administrations,” Hegseth said. “And for too long, NATO has been a paper tiger and a one-way street. No more.”
Hegseth urged the alliance to become a “NATO 3.0 modeled on the NATO 1.0 that won the Cold War.” He said NATO’s framers, including former President Eisenhower, “always expected” Europe to take the lead.
Hegseth said NATO had shifted under what he called NATO 2.0 towards issues including “gender equity and climate change and defense austerity.” He argued that the alliance had moved away from its core military purpose.
“NATO lost its way,” he continued. “NATO 2.0 was an era of distraction, deindustrialization and demilitarization. It was an era of free riding, and those were lost years that we’re not going back to. And that’s why, at the Department of War, we’ve been so clear and so candid to restore NATO’s core military role and character.”
Hegseth said U.S. dues to NATO would be contingent on other member nations meeting their defence spending targets. He said the United States would lower its dues if allies “do not spend with urgency.”
He also criticised NATO allies over their response to the U.S. role in the Iran war. Hegseth accused some allies of trying “to drown us in arcane legal debates, or criticized us publicly for doing what they aren’t prepared or able to do themselves.”
Some European allies declined to offer their bases for U.S. aircraft planned for deployment to the Middle East. President Trump in March also referred to NATO as a “paper tiger” over Europe’s collective stance on the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had shut during its conflict with the United States, Israel and Gulf states.
The Trump administration announced in recent weeks that it was reducing U.S. troop presence by about 5,000 in both Poland and Germany. It later announced that an additional 5,000 troops would be sent to Poland after bipartisan criticism.
The United States also told European allies earlier this month that it would reduce the number of fighter jets and warships it provides for NATO operations. The New York Times reported last week that the proposed changes included reducing F-16 and F-15E fighters from about 150 to 100.
The reported proposals also included reducing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft from 26 to 15. They also included reallocating all eight aerial refuelling tanker aircraft previously available to Europe.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said there would be no immediate impact as the United States cuts troops and equipment available to traditional allies in the event of an attack. “This is not about where forces and assets are currently located,” Rutte told reporters in Brussels, according to The Associated Press.
“It’s about who would do what if our defense plans were activated.” Rutte also said U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s top commander, believes allies either have “or will have in the near future” enough in their arsenals to compensate for gaps left by a U.S. drawdown.
Rutte said the “overall picture is looking good.” NATO countries last year committed to invest 5 percent of gross domestic product annually in defence spending, though most members have not yet met the previous 3.5 percent target.
Source: The Hill.
