No 10 welcomes review of US forces in Europe

DOWNING Street welcomed US defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement at a Nato summit of a review of American military forces in Europe.

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No 10 also insisted the UK “consistently delivers on our commitments” to the alliance and rejected suggestions it was embarrassing for new Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis to attend the gathering in Brussels without the UK defence investment plan (Dip) being published.

At the start of the Nato defence ministers’ meeting, Mr Hegseth lashed out at members who “have yet to show a credible path” towards investing 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in defence by 2035.

He told his counterparts some of Nato’s largest economies still seem “to think the era of free-riding is here” as he warned future American financial contributions would depend on allies meeting their defence spending commitments.