During an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday, NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation Admiral Pierre Vandier said that in the decades after the Cold War, “the Europeans have been, somehow, the free riders of their own security. Today, there is a great change, and now, we need to ramp up in all domains” and that they should do so to make sure they can make do with a smaller U.S. force because the United States has other commitments.
Vandier said, “[T]he U.S. [has] other priorities. They are not only focused on Europe, and the crisis in Iran is a good demonstration of what is said. So, it’s a moment for Europe to stand up and to do largely more than they have been admitted to — they did before. During the post-Cold War decades, the Europeans have been, somehow, the free riders of their own security. Today, there is a great change, and now, we need to ramp up in all domains and to be able, not to do without the U.S., but, largely, with a smaller force of the U.S., given the other commitments these U.S. forces have over the world.”
He added that it’s going to take time to reverse the multiple decades of disinvestment in defense on the continent.
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