US Urges Europe to Increase Defence Spending as NATO Looks to Asia
US Pressure on NATO Allies and European Responses
By Gregor Stuart Hunter, Rae Wee and Jun Yuan Yong
SINGAPORE, May 31 (Reuters) - The United States fired a fresh broadside at its NATO allies in Singapore over the weekend but Western European officials insisted the grouping remains resilient.
US Calls for Increased Defence Spending
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised Asian partners for boosting defence spending and aligning closely with Washington as tensions with China mount.
Alignment with Asian Partners
"When our interests align, we act together with focused resolve," he said. "When our interests diverge, we adjust pragmatically without the drama or the moralising. I think Western Europe might take note."
Challenges for Europe and NATO
"Europe and NATO have some big decisions to make," he said.
President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly accused European governments of underinvesting in their militaries and relying too heavily on U.S. protection, while urging both Europe and Asian allies to boost defence spending to 3.5% of GDP.
Washington announced plans in May to pull 5,000 troops out of Germany, and Trump has threatened to pull out of NATO.
European Responses and Reassurances
NATO's Position on US Troop Withdrawal
A senior NATO official sought to downplay the U.S. troop withdrawal, saying it was already planned and that the alliance's cohesion was unaffected.
"In a mature alliance, if one ally which in this case is the principal stakeholder needs to redirect some power somewhere else, he can do so, and the others must be able to step in," said Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of the NATO Military Committee.
Germany's Military Investment
Nils Hilmer, state secretary at Germany's Federal Ministry of Defence, said Berlin was accelerating military investment regardless of future U.S. deployments.
"What we know for sure... is that there's going to be shifts in that field," he said. "That's why we are about to take the security in our own hands."
Reassurance to Asian Partners
European ministers also used the forum to reassure Asian partners that NATO remained credible beyond its immediate neighbourhood.
"Our credibility in Asia also depends on our robustness in Europe, defending Ukraine in the face of the Russian aggression," said French Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin in a speech to delegates.
Interconnected Security Theatres
Other European defence ministers argued that security theatres are increasingly intertwined.
"The European Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific theatres are becoming inseparable," said Tore Sandvik, Norway's minister of defence, noting that North Korean troops were fighting in Ukraine.
"The U.S. will be occupied in more theatres," he said.
US Congressional Support and Ongoing Scepticism
Bipartisan Support from Congress
But for all the criticism from the Pentagon, several U.S. Senators and members of the House of Representatives said they were seeking to reassure European and Asian allies that they had bipartisan support from Congress.
"I've heard the same anxiety from everyone, not just in the region," said U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth. "I've actually got NATO allies worried about America's commitment to the Indo-Pacific."
European Scepticism and Future Prospects
Still, scepticism among other delegates lingers over Europe's pace of change on investing in their collective security.
"Europe has to learn how to become a player," said Pavlo Klimkin, non-resident senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment and a former Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs. "There is no way around it. But it could be extremely beneficial for their partnership with the United States, because the States would respect such European drive."
(Reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter, Rae Wee and Jun Yuan Yong; Editing by Greg Torode and Shri Navaratnam.)
