The United States has told its European NATO allies that it expects Europe to take over the bulk of NATO’s conventional defense responsibilities, including intelligence, air defense logistics, and missile defense, by 2027, a deadline that some European diplomats have described as “unrealistic.”
This message has been conveyed in recent meetings with European diplomats in Washington, and Pentagon officials have warned that the United States may withdraw from some NATO defense coordination mechanisms if sufficient progress is not made.
According to informed sources, the deadline includes the transfer of conventional non-nuclear defense burdens from American forces to Europeans and aims to reduce Europe’s dependence on the United States in advanced areas such as “strategic enablers.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau emphasized at a recent meeting of NATO foreign ministers that “this has been repeated many times by successive US administrations, but our administration is serious.”
A NATO official responded by saying that European allies were starting to invest more in defense and were shifting the conventional burden to Europe, but declined to endorse the 2027 deadline.
European officials have cited challenges such as a shortage of military equipment production and the need for political will, warning that achieving the goal in the next three years will be difficult, especially given the growing threat from Russia.
This action comes at a time when the US Congress is also aware of this Pentagon message and has expressed concerns about it, and it could affect the deployment of American forces in Europe.
