Around 5,000 US aircraft have taken off from European air bases as part of the military operation against Iran, confirming that Europe remains a vital military ally for Washington, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in an interview with the Financial Times.
“If you look at the big picture, you can see that European countries are delivering on their promises. This has resulted in 4,000, perhaps even 5,000 US sorties being carried out from European airfields in support of Operation Epic Fury,“ the NATO Secretary General said. Rutte expressed confidence that “Europe is once again a major platform for the United States to project power“.
At the same time, he acknowledged that “in general, the United States is disappointed by isolated cases in which the Europeans have not always fulfilled“ bilateral agreements. “I am not saying that these isolated cases of disappointment do not exist, but overall the picture is very positive”, said the NATO leader. Rutte noted that the European rearmament program provides jobs for 195,000 people in the American defense industry thanks to arms orders worth $ 300 billion.