U.S. Defense Secretary Announces Pentagon Review of NATO Allies' Performance

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a Pentagon-led review that will evaluate NATO allies’ defense contributions over a period of up to six months. The assessment, which could affect U.S. funding to NATO’s joint budget and the basing of American forces in Europe, comes as European leaders meet to discuss progress on security priorities such as increased defense spending, industrial investment, and procurement of drones, air-defence systems and long-range weapons.

At a summit ending Friday, European officials said they are working to streamline EU funding, reduce procurement red tape, and improve military mobility by upgrading ports and airports. They emphasized the need to boost Europe’s defence readiness by 2030, a goal that has been pursued since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Hegseth, who left a recent NATO ministers’ meeting early, criticized the alliance as a “paper-tiger” and warned that U.S. contributions to NATO could be reduced if allies do not meet spending and capability targets. He said the review will involve U.S. military commanders, members of Congress and the allies themselves, and will examine basing, over-flight rights and overall force posture.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (named in the original report as Mark Rutte) said the alliance has not been given details of the review’s criteria and will await the outcome. European leaders, however, pointed to a near-20 % increase in defence budgets for 2025 compared with 2024, noting that the additional funds must be translated into equipment and ammunition.

Analysts warned that linking financial contributions to performance could undermine alliance solidarity and send a message that U.S. security commitments are contingent on payment. They urged that force positioning be based on threat assessments and operational requirements rather than as a punitive measure.