Singapore.- U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth assured this Friday that Europe and NATO "have big decisions to make," during a speech in Singapore marked by Washington's repeated calls for its allies to increase their military spending.

«Alliances are not judged by the number of flags, but by the number of military formations. We don't need more conferences; we need more combat capability,» declared, precisely during Asia's main security and defense forum, the Shangri-La Dialogue, the head of the Pentagon. «Less Shangri-La and more ships,» he joked. Hegseth praised in his speech the Asian allies of the US, including Japan and the Philippines, for having "understood for a long time that the basis of a lasting partnership is not based on idealistic values," and highlighted the defense spending of others such as South Korea. "Western Europe should take note" and accept that "the era in which the US subsidized the defense of rich nations is over; we need partners, not protectorates", he added, in line with the stance adopted by President Donald Trump's Administration on the withdrawal of resources from the region. His statements come after NATO foreign ministers met last week in Sweden and concluded that Europe will have to fill the void left by the U.S. with the withdrawal of troops from its territory. On the eve of the Alliance meeting, US President Donald Trump had announced that he would send 5,000 soldiers to Poland after having canceled the deployment of 4,000 planned in that country and ordered the withdrawal of another 5,000 from Germany.

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NATO Foreign Ministers Urge Washington to Remain Anchored in the Organization

NATO foreign ministers called for Washington to remain anchored within the organization, as well as order in the expected withdrawal, which, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is not a "punitive" measure, but a response to the "global commitments" of the US. "When our interests coincide, we act together with determination and focus. But when our interests diverge, we adapt pragmatically, without drama or moral delays," Hegseth underlined today. "Europe and NATO have to make important decisions, and we will talk more about that," he concluded. The Atlantic Alliance will hold a summit in Turkey in July, where it is expected to take stock of how to achieve the goal of raising its military spending to 5% of its GDP in ten years, proposed at the previous allied summit, last year in The Hague.