U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U.S. may “re-examine” its role in NATO after several European countries limited U.S. military access to bases and airspace in Europe.
Italy blocked U.S. bombers bound for the Middle East from landing at one of its bases in recent days, while President Donald Trump lambasted France, accusing Paris of closing its airspace to planes carrying weapons to Israel. Israel said on Tuesday it was cutting off all defense purchases from France.
Spain shuttered its airspace to all U.S. military flights after confirming shortly after the start of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 that it had barred Washington from using two jointly-operated airbases for the attacks.
“If now we have reached a point where the NATO alliance means we can’t use those bases […] to defend America’s interests, then NATO is a one-way street,” Rubio told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
“Then, why are we NATO?” Rubio continued. “There’s no doubt, unfortunately, after this conflict is concluded, we’re going to have to re-examine that relationship.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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