Europe fears that US defense decisions could be the first step towards a structural restructuring of NATO, or even a significant reduction in Washington's participation in the alliance, reports the Spanish daily El Pais.

The newspaper recalled the US plan to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, the revision of the planned deployment of US forces in Poland, as well as the initiative to freeze the project to deploy US-made Tomahawk missiles in Germany.

According to El Pais, the US is moving towards a more practical relationship with NATO and is seeking to maintain military capabilities in Europe that directly correspond to its global strategic interests, which are increasingly focused on America and Asia and less and less on Europe. Washington has previously warned that it will reduce its burden within NATO, but the allies are only now beginning to realize that these changes are real.

El Pais noted that in Berlin, Paris, and Brussels there is a growing sense that transatlantic relations are entering a phase of strategic uncertainty, unprecedented since the end of the Cold War. The concern in European capitals is not limited to the content of the decisions made; it is also related to the way they are communicated, the newspaper noted.

Earlier, President Donald Trump announced that the US would undergo a very serious review of its policy within NATO. According to the US leader, the North Atlantic defensive alliance did not support Washington in the situation around Iran, although the US pays “trillions of dollars” for NATO.

Source: https://news.am/en/news/1037524