U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, right, speaks next to British Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis and Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler as they attend a meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) during the NATO Defence Ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, June 18. Reuters-Yonhap
BRUSSELS — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at NATO allies on Thursday, announcing a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe that will depend on how fast they take responsibility for their own security.
“This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe,” he told his NATO counterparts in Brussels.
Hegseth lambasted European allies for failing to provide U.S. forces access to bases in Europe to launch attacks on Iran, calling it “shameful.”
“These allies, they put America’s sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access, basing and overflight that never should have been in question at all,” he said.
