NATO allies will strengthen the European pillar of the alliance, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday, following the US announcement of a review of its military presence in Europe and a shift toward greater European responsibility for the continent’s security.
“We have known that the US administration has been reviewing its troop presence worldwide since the revision of the US security strategy. This applies to Europe and to Germany as well,” Merz told reporters in Brussels, ahead of an EU leaders’ summit.
Merz emphasized that Germany and its European partners have spent months taking concrete steps to bolster the continent’s defense capabilities — efforts that extend beyond the European Union.
“I am grateful that we are engaged in intensive discussions on this matter with the UK and Norway,” Merz said. “We are strengthening the European NATO nations; we are reinforcing NATO’s European pillar. We know that we need to do more, and we are doing so.”
Earlier Thursday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon had launched a comprehensive review of its military presence in Europe to support a transition in which European countries take primary responsibility for the continent’s security.
“We're doubling down on our effort to make NATO what it always was supposed to be, a balanced alliance with Europe in the lead for its own defense,” Hegseth told NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
He said the “NATO 3.0 review” will take up to six months and will examine US force posture across the region, incorporating input from US European Command, Congress, and international allies.
Hegseth stressed that the goal is to move “fast and irreversibly” toward European self-reliance, allowing American forces to be optimally positioned for Washington’s broader global strategic priorities.
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