Pete Hegseth accuses Nato countries of âfree ridingâ in combative address
US defence secretary addresses allies in latest attempt to get Europe to raise military budgets Pete Hegseth has announced a review of the US military presence across Europe, in a combative address to Nato allies where he threatened to cut force numbers in countries spending the least on defence. The US defence secretary, speaking at a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels, accused some countries of âfree ridingâ and others of being shameful for not allowing their airbases to be used by US jets bombing Iran in the spring. Though Hegsethâs remarks were delivered behind closed doors to a group of allies, including the UKâs new defence secretary, Dan Jarvis, they were briefed out by the Pentagon in its latest attempt to push Europe into raising military budgets. Hegseth said it would be âa real reviewâ in which âour annual Nato dues will be contingent on other countries meeting their defence spending targetsâ â meaning that in future, as far as the US was concerned, âNato will be a two-way streetâ. The Trump administration wants Nato members from Europe to take the lead in defending their own continent against Russia, and steadily lift defence spending to
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