HELSINGBORG, Sweden (AFP) — The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) European members scrambled Friday to get clarity from United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on troop shifts by Washington, as they sought to placate President Donald Trump’s ire on Iran ahead of a July summit.
Trump left heads spinning as NATO foreign ministers gathered in the Swedish city of Helsingborg by announcing he would send 5,000 troops to Poland, in an apparent reversal of Washington earlier calling off the planned deployment.
The shift was welcomed by NATO chief Mark Rutte and Poland’s foreign minister, but it fuelled concerns about a lack of coordination between the US and its allies.
“It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,” said Swedish foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard.
Trump’s seeming U-turn came after Washington earlier this month abruptly announced it was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany following a spat between Trump and Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
A string of NATO ministers said that US drawdowns on the continent were widely expected as Washington focuses on other threats and Europe ramps up its defenses.
“What is important is that it happens in a structured manner, so that Europe is able to build up when the US reduces its presence,” Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide said.
The meeting in Sweden comes after Trump has lashed out at Europe over its response to his war on Iran — and threatened he could consider quitting NATO.
Diplomats said the aim was to turn the page ahead of the alliance summit in Ankara so that they could focus on showcasing increased spending by Europe.
Judging by Rubio’s comments as he set off for the talks — denouncing NATO for failing to weigh in behind Trump on Iran — the US may not be willing to move on too fast.
The US president is “not asking them to send their fighter jets in. But they refuse to do anything,” the US top diplomat told reporters. “We were very upset about that.”
Though himself a long-term supporter of the alliance, Rubio has already warned Washington needs to “re-examine” its ties to NATO after European nations restricted access to bases for US Iran operations.
In a bid to calm the storm, some allies have dispatched vessels closer to the region to help in the Strait of Hormuz when the war ends.
“Europeans have heard the message,” Rutte said.
