NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated today that he is pleased with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s reprimand of European allies, arguing that it is good to tell “the truth to one another.”
“I am glad [Hegseth] did it because we have to tell each other the truth. This Alliance is going through a massive transformation, probably the biggest in its history, to build this NATO 3.0, and that also means there are rough waters. It is a complicated phase,” Rutte said during a press conference following the meeting of NATO defense ministers held today in Brussels.
Rutte argued that the underlying message behind the Pentagon chief’s criticism is the clear intention to “keep the pressure on” the remaining allies.
During the exchange with his counterparts, the NATO chief detailed, Hegseth criticized that despite member states’ commitments to invest more in defense, “some are still holding back a little bit and need to do more.”
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The former Prime Minister of the Netherlands also maintained that the United States expressed “a very clear and strong commitment to NATO” today regarding the critical need to turn “a more equitable distribution of responsibilities” for Europe’s collective defense into reality.
In particular, Hegseth criticized European allies for failing to provide US forces with access to bases in Europe to launch military strikes against Iran, calling it a “shameful” attitude.
“These allies 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 called into question,” he stated.
When questioned about some of the disqualifications expressed by the US Defense Secretary, such as calling the Alliance’s reluctance to get involved in the Iran conflict “shameful,” Rutte simply responded that he will not comment on “every single word that every ally says” because he “never” does.
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The official also justified Hegseth’s early departure before the conclusion of the North Atlantic Council held on Monday without waiting to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“He spent nearly two hours listening to the debate (…) We knew he had to leave early because he had prior commitments. But he spent nearly two hours listening to the debate,” he noted.
During his address to the North Atlantic Council, Hegseth went so far as to state that the Alliance “has been a paper tiger and a one-way street” for many years, while also accusing European allies of focusing heavily on “gender equality” and “climate change” instead of “tanks and fighter jets.”
Pete Hegseth announced today that the United States will completely review its military presence in Europe within a six-month timeframe.
