Lithuania receives Trump administration NATO questionnaire

Lithuania has received a US questionnaire assessing NATO allies’ support for President Donald Trump’s policies, LRT reported, citing confirmation from the Lithuanian president’s office.

The Lithuanian presidency told LRT that the US Department of Defense had asked about defence funding, cooperation in the defence industry, commitments to allied forces and participation in international missions.

“Lithuania’s official response to its key NATO allies is currently being prepared,” the presidency said.

Bloomberg reported that the questionnaire was sent to NATO members as the United States considers reducing the military resources it commits to defending the alliance. The document asks whether countries have publicly supported US foreign policy, what restrictions they have placed on the US military’s use of their bases and whether they spend money on US defence contractors.

Bloomberg sources said allies had reacted strongly negatively, viewing the questionnaire as an attempt to force them to demonstrate ideological loyalty in exchange for US protection.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb later rejected the claim that the questionnaire was pressuring NATO allies. “I do not see it as pressure. It is simply the way the current US administration operates,” Bloomberg quoted him as saying.

The questionnaire was prepared after the US decided to review its military presence in Europe. Bloomberg reported that Washington is expected to significantly reduce the number of troops and the amount of weaponry in the region by December.

According to Bloomberg, linking US commitments to NATO allies with ideological loyalty could fundamentally change transatlantic relations formed after the Second World War. Those relations were based on US military guarantees that allowed member states to disagree politically without endangering the alliance itself.