The new US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, warned his European allies on Wednesday 12 February that they must take responsibility for the security of their continent.
While the United States remains committed to the NATO Alliance and the defence partnership with Europe, it “will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependency”, he explained at the opening of the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels. “Rather, our relationship will prioritise empowering Europe to own responsibility for its own security”, he explained.
Mr Hegseth called on Europeans to spend more on their defence, putting forward, like his President, a target of spending 5% of GDP on defence. He called on the Allies to honour their commitments. “We challenge your countries and your citizens to double down and recommit yourselves not only to Ukraine’s immediate security needs, but to Europe’s long term defence and deterrence goals”, he told his allies. He warned that for the Transatlantic Alliance to endure, the European Allies would have to “step into the arena and take ownership of conventional security on the continent”.
According to Mr Hegseth, “stark strategic realities” prevent the United States from focusing primarily on the security of Europe, as the United States face “consequential threats” to their homeland and must concentrate on securing their own borders. “The US is prioritising deterring war with China in the Pacific”, he added, proposing to establish “a division of labour that maximises our comparative advantages in Europe and Pacific, respectively”.
Increase in defence spending
“We are aware of our responsibilities and must take on more heavy tasks and share more burdens. Europe is stepping up its efforts by increasing its defence spending and its support for Ukraine”, admitted his British counterpart, John Healey, who was chairing the contact group meeting, a few minutes earlier.
This awareness is reflected in the figures. For example, the non-American Allies have substantially increased their defence spending in recent years. Ahead of the ministerial meeting of defence ministers on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte pointed out that Europeans and Canadians had “added more than US$700 billion to defence” since 2014.
“In 2024, NATO Allies in Europe and Canada invested US$485 billion in defence, an increase of almost 20% compared to 2023. With two-thirds of the Allies devoting at least 2% of their GDP to defence”, added Mr Rutte, calling on those Allies that had not yet reached the 2% mark to do so “by the summer”.
The target of spending 2% of GDP on defence should be revised upwards at the Hague summit in June. According to Mark Rutte, it will have to be at least 3% and linked to a “credible timetable, so as not to repeat what we did in 2014, when we committed to 2% and nothing happened for the first 2 years”.
During their discussions on Thursday, the ministers will also look at the next ambitious defence capability targets for the Allies, “which will be essential to ensure that we have the right people and the right equipment to deter and defend”, according to Mr Rutte. The new defence spending target will also be linked to the funds needed to fill the gaps between what the Allies have and what they should have to ensure their security in the medium term.
How to strengthen the transatlantic defence industrial capability, notably through an updated defence production action plan, will also be discussed. According to Mr Rutte, while there has been a “substantial increase” in defence production across the Alliance in recent years, “we need to go further and faster”.
The ministers could also agree on a new commercial space strategy and on strengthening NATO’s integrated air and missile defence.
Finally, they will discuss Russia’s current campaign of destabilisation against the Allies. Asked about a possible Russian military attack in a few years’ time, Mr Rutte warned that if “Putin were to attack NATO, the reaction would be devastating. He would lose. So let him not try it”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)