Serious warning to NATO: Rubio announces that the US will review its relationship with the alliance after the Iran war for its lack of cooperation in the Iran war
In an interview, the Secretary of State stated: "Why are we in NATO? You have to ask that question. Why do we send trillions of dollars and have all of these American forces stationed in the region, if in our time of need, we won't be allowed to use those bases?"
Marco Rubio and Donald Trump
The U.S. will review its relationship with NATO after the Middle East war. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio put it bluntly, lamenting that the Atlantic Alliance has become "a one-way street" in which Washington rushes to defend Europe and its interests but is denied the use of military bases on the Continent.
In an interview on the Fox network, Rubio lamented the impediments they are encountering among their European allies, especially Spain, in refueling aircraft involved in the strikes on Iran at the bases in Rota and Morón. Something that forces the Trump Administration to reconsider whether it still makes sense to remain in the Atlantic alliance.
"Why are we in NATO? You have to ask that question. Why do we send trillions of dollars and have all of these American forces stationed in the region, if in our time of need, we won't be allowed to use those bases?"
"NATO was not just about defending Europe"
For Rubio, refusals such as that of the Socialist government of Pedro Sanchez, and the excuses of the major European powers to collaborate in the liberation of the Strait of Hormuz, turn NATO into "a one-way street" in which the US has to go running to defend the interests of the old continent for nothing:
"NATO wasn’t just about defending Europe, but allowing us to have military bases in Europe for our national security. If we’ve reached a point where the NATO alliance means that we can’t use those bases to defend our interests, then it’s a one-way street."
Spain's socialist government uses "No to war" to hide its problems
The secretary of state explicitly mentioned Spain to make clear his discomfort with the Socialist executive, which has seen in the "No to war" a slogan to hide its bad political moment, beset by corruption scandals and with its government partners at loggerheads:
"We have countries like Spain, a NATO member, that we are pledged to defend, denying us the use of their airspace and bragging about it. Denying us the use of their bases. And there are other countries that have done that as well. And so you ask yourself, ‘Well, what is in it for the United States?’”
Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/2026-03-31/rubio-spain-europe-nato-bases-21234835.html
Source - Stars and Stripes
"We’ll have to reexamine whether NATO is serving its purpose"
Given this situation, Rubio noted that "We’ll have to reexamine whether NATO is serving its purpose or has now become a one-way street where America is simply in a position to help Europe but when we need the help of our allies, they deny us basing rights and overflight."
Rubio reiterates U.S. goals with war and legality of attacks
"I hear these news reports that we don’t know what the objectives are, and it’s very frustrating. Our objectives are clear: destroy their air force, navy, missile factories, and degrade their missile launchers."
Rubio further recalled the reasons why Trump decided to finally use force against Tehran: "The only reason to have 60% enriched uranium is to be able to enrich it to 90% and put it into a bomb. Iran has NO reason to have it. They need to give it up."
Furthermore, the secretary wanted to emphasize, "Look at the damage Iran has been able to inflict on their neighbors at their weakest point. Imagine two years from now if they had the opportunity to double their missiles. The President was not going to allow that to happen."
Finally, the secretary again justified the legality of the attacks: "For all these countries that like to talk about international law, it’s a violation of maritime law to impede the free flow of travel in international waters. The Strait of Hormuz is international waters, so Iran’s actions to impede commercial traffic are."
"It’s illegal to bomb and sink commercial shipping. These are terroristic acts that Iran is undertaking in the Strait of Hormuz. Countries around the world should be stepping up and dealing with this."
LATEST
