The comments made on February 14 by the US Secretary for Defense were only a confirmation, but their echo, amplified by the chosen place to pronounce them, continues to resonate in European chancellery. “It’s time to invest because you cannot assume that the American presence will last forever”coldly launched Pete Hegseth, on the occasion of his first trip abroad, made in Warsaw, in the heart of the American military system in Europe.
Added to the shattering statements of J. D. Vance on the occasion of the Munich Conference on Security, where the vice-president of the United States sowed dismay, on February 14, taking up part of the Russian argument, these words confirmed the fears of American disengagement that has been hovering on the old continent since the “pivot” of American strategic priorities to the region Asia-Pacific, announced in 2011 by Barack Obama and taken over by Donald Trump.
His watchword “America First” And the formal notices that he continues to address his allies of the Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) so that they devote a greater part of their budgets to their own security have, since then, considerably exacerbated these fears. Furthermore, according to the Washington PostPete Hegseth ordered members of his administration to reflect on an 8 % reduction in the defense budget. Some sectors, such as deterrent and border protection, would be exempt, but the military presence in Europe would not be on the list.
Thirty-seven American bases
The Polish president, Andrzej Duda, may have ensured, on February 18, having obtained the warranty of the United States that they did not plan to reduce their military presence in Europe, the risk seems real, but the Europeans are not able to replace the Americans militarily “From one moment to another”summed up the German Minister of Defense, Boris Pistorius, the same day of the passage in Warsaw of his American counterpart.
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