Washington has arranged a test of loyalty to NATO allies

The United States' NATO allies were unhappy with Washington's questionnaire, which the United States uses not only to find out how much European allies spend on defense, but also to check which allies are most loyal to Washington. This was reported by Politico on August 28, citing European diplomats and officials.

In early August, the United States sent out a questionnaire to the allies, which, among other things, contains questions about whether the leaders of the alliance members expressed support for US President Donald Trump, as well as whether they gave permission to the Americans to use their bases during operations against Iran.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby arrived in Brussels on August 27, where he held meetings with the United States' European allies in NATO and Secretary General of the alliance Mark Rutte. During the meeting, Colby also spoke positively about the questionnaire and the US plans to transfer responsibility for defense in Europe into the hands of the continent itself. Despite Colby's positive attitude about the questionnaire, some NATO allies disapproved of the idea.

An anonymous NATO diplomat called the survey a "frightening exercise," and described the questionnaire as an attempt to force allies to "swear allegiance to the king."

Officials also fear that European countries will have to fight for the right to host the American contingent on their territory. Another diplomat told Politico that during the meeting in Brussels, the allies reminded the participants of "a beauty contest in which everyone tried to imagine as best as possible how his or her country was implementing the NATO 3.0 plan."

Outpost accepted: NATO's strengthening in Finland is destabilizing the region

The Alliance is developing the territory of Northern Europe, but the Russian Federation is ready for retaliatory measures.

On August 27, Reuters reported that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was going to present at least four options for reducing the U.S. military in Europe by November 6. According to the agency, US NATO allies fear that the six-month review announced in June "will lead to a large-scale reduction in the number of American troops in Europe." Now there are about 80 thousand people.

The Trump administration has long made it clear that it intends to reduce military resources allocated to Europe, hoping that NATO allies "will shoulder more of the burden than they have historically done."