NATO has known better days.

Already on his way to Sweden, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that he "doesn't think anyone is surprised that the United States, and especially the president, is currently very disillusioned with NATO and what it represents."

Especially when it comes to Spain, which has banned the Pentagon from using its bases there for US attacks on Iran, he said, the question arises as to why the US would even be a member of an alliance that does not help it when it needs it.

In the shadow of that statement, on Friday and Saturday (May 22 and 23), the first gathering of NATO foreign ministers since the start of the war with Iran is taking place. This comes amid numerous announcements by the US that it will reduce its military engagement in Europe. How quickly and to what extent – ​​that remains largely unclear for now. It is only clear that the mood among the Alliance members has been better.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, as usual, is trying to paint the whole thing in a positive light. The fact that the US wants to make fewer soldiers available to the Alliance in the future, in his view, is also an opportunity "to move away from an unhealthy, excessive dependence on a single ally and towards a more equitable distribution of responsibilities for our collective security."

They leave and yet they don't leave...

The question has long since ceased to be whether Europe can and wants to make a greater contribution in terms of men, equipment and money for defense. The question is that Europe must become faster. Because the American government is putting pressure.

The withdrawal of 5.000 US troops from Germany is in play. At the same time, the sending of 4.000 US troops to Poland was first stopped, and then US President Donald Trump announced the sending of "5.000 additional troops" to Poland.

He explained this by his good relations with Poland's right-wing president, Karol Nawrocki. However, he did not specify a specific timetable or which troops would be stationed there.

And according to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, there is still no reliable information on when and where exactly the number of soldiers will be reduced: "The only thing we are hearing so far is that it is all part of the decision that an entire American brigade will be stationed in Europe."

The American brigade consists of around 4.000 soldiers, and after the Pentagon stationed a fourth brigade in Europe at the beginning of the war in Ukraine, according to these plans there will be only three of them again.

No US medium-range missiles for Europe

From a military perspective, the US government's announcement that it will not station Tomahawk cruise missiles in Germany is even more significant. With these medium-range weapons, the Europeans wanted to temporarily plug a gap in their defenses because they had not yet developed their own systems with similar characteristics.

The German government regrets this decision, but - probably due to strained relations with US President Donald Trump - does not openly criticize it.

"We are focused on further strengthening NATO," a government spokesman in Berlin emphasizes instead. Germany is already taking on more responsibility, he says.

Foreign Minister Johan Vadeful shares similar views. The goal is a new burden-sharing that matches the economic and military potential of Germany and Europe.

Like Rute, Vadeful does not want to leave any doubt about the transatlantic alliance: "Our message is clear: our Alliance is rock-solid and we stand together. In word and deed."

„NATO 3.0“

The aim of the NATO ministerial meeting in Helsingborg – a city in southern Sweden, on the Öresund Strait, past which ships of the Russian “shadow fleet” pass daily – is to send a message of as much unity as possible and suppress the differences that came to light during the attack on Iran.

The threat from Russia and the war in Ukraine remain key issues for the Alliance. In order for NATO to remain effective, Secretary General Rutte now wants to give the Alliance a new boost after increasing its financial resources last year.

"NATO 3.0" is the name of this new phase, for which the foreign ministers in southern Sweden are supposed to lay the foundations – before the heads of state and government meet at the NATO summit in Ankara in July.