Published on
18/06/2026 - 15:58 GMT+2
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has downplayed a blistering attack by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth who described European allies as “shameful" for not helping the US in the war in Iran.
Hegseth was in Brussels for a meeting of NATO defence ministers, where he informed allies the Pentagon will review the number of US forces in Europe within the next six months.
Announcing the details of what he described as "NATO 3.0", Hegseth also told allies the US would reduce its contributions to overall NATO budget if countries weren’t on track to spend 5 percent of GDP on defence by 2035. The alliance agreed to the new spending commitment at last year's summit at the behest of US President Donald Trump.
