US can’t keep subsidizing 'rich' western Europe: Secretary of state

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has criticized "rich" Western European nations for underinvesting in their national security, stressing that the US cannot continue to subsidize their defense.

“These are rich countries, especially in Western Europe, they have plenty of money, they should be investing that in their national security and they're not,” Rubio told Fox News in an interview aired Wednesday.

He highlighted that some NATO allies spend as little as 1% to 1.5% of their GDP on defense, calling it "unfair" and "unsustainable" for the US to bear the burden.

“NATO is not in jeopardy. The only thing that puts NATO in jeopardy is the fact that we have NATO allies who barely have militaries or whose militaries are not very capable because they've spent 40 years not spending any money on it,” he said.

He emphasized that the US is not asking allies to act independently but to contribute more.

“It's their continent, right? Why should we not be, why is it unreasonable for the United States to ask rich European countries to invest more money in their own national security?” Rubio added.

The US has been pressuring NATO members to boost their security spending.