Greek and Spanish troops are launching an attack from the sea near Nea Anchialos. They are part of a six-week-long exercise of NATO's new rapid response force, ARF.
The idea is that NATO wants a force that is ready, flexible, and can be deployed in all five areas – in the air, at sea, on land, as well as in cyberspace and space, says ARF chief, Italian Lieutenant General Lorenzo D'Addario, according to the AP news agency's correspondent in Greece.
The exercise is called Steadfast Dart 2025 and involves a total of around 10,000 NATO soldiers from nine countries on site in Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece.
Without the USA
As a clear sign of the times, however, the USA is not directly involved in the exercise – something that NATO leadership is keen to emphasize.
It sometimes seems that there is a misconception that the USA is responsible for everything and other countries just tag along, said NATO's highest military commander in Europe, US General Chris Cavoli, at a press conference in January.
This fits well with the frequent calls from the new US political leadership for Europe to take greater responsibility for its own security.
The leaders of our European allies must take primary responsibility for the continent's defense. And it starts with increasing defense spending. We can talk as much as we want about values. They are important. But you can't shoot with values, said US Defense Minister Pete Hegseth at his press conference after his first NATO meeting last week.
Double Budget
The USA's GDP is roughly the same as that of all other NATO countries combined. In pure monetary terms, the USA still spends twice as much on defense as the other countries do.
This math has long been a pet peeve of US President Donald Trump, who has been demanding more from Europe for years.
The demands are further reinforced by the fact that the USA believes it needs to focus more on security around the Pacific. Hegseth emphasizes that the USA is not planning to abandon Europe – but also that decisions on troop levels are a matter of negotiation and up to Trump.
We wish we could lead everywhere, all the time. We understand the importance of partnership (in NATO), but it can't be constantly unchanged in the light of threats and economic reality, said Hegseth on Thursday.
According to NATO's own estimate from June 2024, member countries together spent $1,474 billion on defense last year. More than two-thirds – $968 billion – was spent by the USA, while the other 31 countries together accounted for $506 billion.
The USA's total GDP was estimated at $28,720 billion, compared to $25,256 billion for the other NATO countries.
In terms of personnel, the USA had 1.3 million defense employees, compared to 2.1 million for the others.
Source: NATO.
