Overview
- U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced a six‑month re‑examination of America’s military presence in Europe on Thursday at a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels.
- Hegseth sharply criticized some allies for denying U.S. access to NATO bases during the war with Iran and said the review will seek guarantees of predictable base use, airspace and overflight rights.
- He warned the United States will condition or reduce its annual financial contributions to NATO if countries do not meet the defense‑spending pledges made at last year’s Hague summit.
- Washington has already begun adjustments, including troop reductions in Germany and plans to lower its inputs to NATO’s 'model of forces,' the inventory NATO uses to count available capabilities.
- European NATO members and Canada increased defense spending by about $90 billion last year and are accelerating capability building, but officials warn these moves leave a near‑term window of heightened vulnerability given Russian threat warnings through 2030.