NATO: USA will keep key role but Europe takes greater responsibility

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NATO’s top commander said on Thursday the United States would continue to provide “critical but more limited capabilities” to the alliance as Europeans take up a greater role in defending the continent.

U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, was speaking in a phone interview with Reuters en route to a change of command ceremony at a NATO headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, where a British army general will take over from a U.S. Navy vice admiral.

However, NATO recently announced that is stepping up intelligence-sharing in response to a wave of sabotage and other incidents apparently linked to Russia but should be “calm and confident” that it can handle any threat posed by Moscow, the alliance’s top commander told Reuters on Thursday.

The comments by US Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich came after Denmark’s defense intelligence service warned that Russia was likely to intensify a hybrid war — a term that covers a range of attacks below the level of a conventional military assault — against the West in the coming months.

The Danish service added there was “a low but growing risk” that Moscow might launch a limited military attack against one or several NATO countries that border Russia.

“It’s concerning,” Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said of a string of incidents in recent weeks including an attempted drone attack at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport and a Russian ship firing flares towards a Danish military helicopter.

“But we should be calm and confident that we as an alliance, the most powerful alliance in history, have the tools that we need and have the mechanisms that we need in order to manage the risk here,” he added.

Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement in hybrid warfare or sabotage operations in NATO countries, or plotting any confrontation.

PUTIN BETTER NOT TRY ATTACK ‘ON MY WATCH’, GENERAL SAYS

Grynkewich was speaking in a phone interview with Reuters en route to a change-of-command ceremony at a NATO headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, where a British army general is taking over from a US Navy vice admiral.

Asked about the risk of a limited Russian attack on NATO territory, Grynkewich stressed the alliance’s readiness for any such contingency, saying such a development was “unlikely but something that we can’t rule out”.

Grynkewich dismissed suggestions that Russian President Vladimir Putin might see an opportunity to strike at NATO, given that the US has used up much of its global stockpile of highly accurate long-range missiles in the war with Iran, according to people familiar with the data.

“Absolutely not. He better not try it on my watch,” he said, adding NATO was well positioned to defend every inch of its territory.

“If we proceed from the phase we’re in and we start to see emerging threats, I’m confident that I have the authorities now that I need in order to take actions to deter any aggression against the alliance.”

NATO IN MIDST OF CHANGE AS EUROPEANS TAKE GREATER ROLE

The handover of Norfolk to a European commander is part of a broader reshuffle in keeping with US President Donald Trump’s demands that European nations take more responsibility for their own security. It will also see a European taking charge of NATO’s Joint Force Command in Naples.

NATO’s Joint Force Command Norfolk is responsible for operations in the Arctic and northern Europe as well as protecting transatlantic resupply routes.

Attempting to reassure European allies concerned about an ongoing review of US forces on the continent, Grynkewich said Washington would continue “to provide critical but more limited capabilities” to NATO as Europeans took on a greater role.

He said there was “no predetermined outcome” in terms of how many US troops would remain in Europe and “what the capabilities are that might relocate”. About 80,000 US troops are currently based on the continent.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to leave NATO, which has been dominated by the US since its establishment in 1949, accusing Europeans of being free-riders on security.