Washington (EFE).- NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte assured on Thursday that «nearly without exception,» the alliance members have complied with the United States’ requests for support in the war in Iran, although he admitted that some were «a bit slow» in their response.
«What I see, when I look across Europe today, is Allies providing a massive amount of support. Basing, logistics, and other measures, to ensure the powerful US military succeeds in denying Iran a nuclear weapon and degrading its capacity to export chaos,” Rutte said at the Reagan Institute’s Center for Peace Through Strength.
“Nearly without exception, Allies are doing everything the United States is asking,» Rutte said.
During a debate at the Ronald Reagan Institute in Washington, the head of the alliance indicated that «when it came time to provide the logistical and other support the United States needed in Iran, some Allies were a bit slow.»
However, he added that, «in fairness, they were also a bit surprised» by the offensive launched by the US and Israel on Feb. 28 without consulting the bloc’s members or the rest of the allied nations.
He warned that he understands the strategy of US president Donald Trump, who «to maintain the element of surprise for the initial strikes,” chose not to inform Allies in advance.
Rutte, who met with Trump for two hours in the Oval Office on Wednesday, attempted to ease tensions at a time when the White House is intensifying its criticism of the alliance and even directly threatening to withdraw from the organization.
The US President has also severely criticized the bloc’s members, whom he has called «cowards» for not supporting a plan to ensure passage through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which Iran blocked in retaliation for the war, a conflict European countries maintain is not their business.
Rutte defended that “the United Kingdom is leading a coalition of countries that are aligning the military, the political, and the economic tools that will be required to ensure free passage through the Strait of Hormuz,» whose reopening is contingent on the current temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran.
«Allies recognise, and I recognise, we are in a period of profound change in the transatlantic Alliance,» he insisted, as he did after his meeting with Trump.
When asked about the possibility of the US withdrawing from NATO, as Trump has threatened, Rutte did not answer directly and instead repeated that the US President had conveyed his «disappointment,» although he highlighted the «frank» conversation held by both leaders.
The NATO Secretary General also addressed the increase in defense investment by member countries and concluded that it is a transition from an “unhealthy co-dependence” toward a Transatlantic Alliance built on a true partnership, and appealed for a “mindset shift,” which he assured, is already underway. EFE
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