US sounds out NATO allies over Europe force review

“WILL GET THERE”

The force review was announced by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth in June amid US anger at the response of European nations to the war with Iran, including restrictions on US forces using their bases at the start of the conflict.

“Let’s look at some of things like access, basing, and overflights, where there is a lot of good, but there are some things that we need to work out, to make sense going forward,” Colby said.

NATO chief Mark Rutte insisted that Washington’s allies were making progress by ramping up spending on defence and the acquisition of key capabilities.

“It is still continuing. Still, much more to be done. We will get there,” Rutte told Colby.

Trump has long pressured Europe to spend more on defence as Washington signals it wants to step back from the continent to focus on other challenges such as China.

The Pentagon, which has some 80,000 troops stationed in Europe, has already told allies it is reducing the number of assets it makes available for NATO’s defence plans.

Washington also said in May it would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, but Trump later said he was sending the same number to neighbouring Poland.

European countries are massively ramping up military budgets, agreeing in 2025 to Trump’s demand to devote five per cent of GDP to security-related spending by 2035.