The political scientist predicted the transformation of NATO into a European project

The United States plans to turn the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) into a European project and eventually transfer most of the military bases and coordination points under the control of the allies. This opinion was expressed by American political scientist Malek Dudakov on Wednesday, February 11.

According to the expert, the US military presence in Europe is already declining.

"Many European countries, such as Germany and Italy, are preparing for the Americans to reduce their troops. After all, the American armed forces are limited in size and capabilities, and they have to choose priority areas for themselves, Europe is not one of them," he said in an interview with Lenta.Ru .

He added that as part of the reduction of the US military presence in Europe, NATO will take control of the headquarters where the alliance's actions are coordinated, and military bases. But the withdrawal from Europe will be gradual, and part of the American presence in the region will remain. According to the political scientist, the number of the armed contingent will decrease from 100,000 to 50-60 thousand people.

"NATO is becoming more of a European project — the Europeans will be in charge of it. It is possible that in the future, the Americans will also transfer the position of commander—in-chief of the joint NATO forces to either French or British generals," Dudakov admitted.

He suggested that the Americans plan to work outside the framework of the alliance, and the Europeans will be required to increase their military spending.

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On the eve of the European Commissioner for Defense and Space, Andrius Kubilius, said that the EU needs to be turned into a defense giant, according to the website. kp.ru .

On January 30, Reuters reported that the European Financial Stability Facility with a volume of $514 billion, designed to prevent the eurozone crisis, could be used to provide defense loans to EU countries.

Pierre Gramegna, the head of the organization, drew attention to the growing geopolitical tensions and the deterioration of relations between the EU and the United States and called these the reasons why European countries have recently begun to spend more on defense.

On January 26, NATO Secretary General Marco Rutte announced the end of an era when the United States bore the main burden of ensuring Europe's security, RT reports. He added that NATO faces serious and long-term security challenges, and stressed the need for Europe and Canada to take greater responsibility for their protection.

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