European allies at NATO on Thursday brushed aside concerns that the United States has stepped back from its leadership role of the world's biggest security organization, leaving them and Canada to do the lion's share of defending Europe.

Despite Paris's hopes, the reorganization of the North Atlantic Alliance, finalized on February 6, does not allow France to increase its weight within the organization. Meanwhile, Germany is aiming for the key post of chair of the military committee.

European allies at NATO on Thursday brushed aside concerns that the United States has stepped back from its leadership role of the world's biggest security organization, leaving them and Canada to do the lion's share of defending Europe.

The foreign minister argues that Germany has often been caught off guard by Russian offensives in the past. Now, NATO could be standing on the edge of a major war — and Berlin is responding in small, incremental steps. “They’ve learned nothing,” he says. “It’s astonishing.”

EADaily, February 12th, 2026. If Russia blocks the Suwalki corridor, NATO's response will be devastating. This was stated by Alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte before the meeting of the heads of the defense ministries of the bloc countries on February 12.

NATO's response to a possible Russian operation to block the Suwałki Corridor connecting Poland to Lithuania, a critically vulnerable land bridge for the bloc, would be "crushing," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said, according to Polskie Radio.