london —
US President Donald Trump has recently asked for a number of things from European allies, including the use of military bases, the possible transfer of missile defense systems, and generally more support for military operations against Iran.
Many responses have been lukewarm, with allies offering limited defense assistance but repeatedly calling for detente. But White House requests are increasingly being met with a resounding “no.” Or Ni, Non, Rifuto.
Italy rejected a US request to land an aircraft at a military base in Sicily this week, according to state broadcaster RAI on Tuesday.
RAI reported that “the[US]plans were communicated while the aircraft were already in flight, and inspection revealed that these were neither regular flights nor logistics flights and therefore not covered by the treaty with Italy.” A spokesperson for Italy’s Ministry of Defense confirmed the report to CNN, but declined to comment further.
The office of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of President Trump’s key allies in Europe, said Italy was “acting in full compliance with existing international agreements.” Reading between the lines of the official statement seems to imply that Italy considers any aggressive actions related to the attack on Iran to be non-compliant.
Italy is joining Britain, France and Germany in an effort to send air defense support to the Gulf allies. But when it comes to offensive operations, Meloni joins a chorus of European leaders who say the war in Iran is illegal or, in her words, “outside the scope of international law.”
“One of the key issues for European countries is the question of legality,” said Kamil Zworski, a research fellow in terrorism and conflict at the UK-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). “When Europeans say this war has no legal basis, they mean that it was not recognized by the United Nations, that there was no resolution. They also mean that this is not a war of self-defense because there was no evidence of an imminent Iranian attack on the United States or Israel.”
“At least what they mean is that this war was not agreed upon by the NATO allies. They were not consulted,” Zworski told CNN.
Against this background, there are a growing number of other examples of European countries showing refusal or hesitation.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has perhaps been the most outspoken, doubling down on his condemnation of the U.S. attack and his stance that Spain will not allow the use of its military bases or airspace for any activities related to the Iran war.
Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles Fernández flippantly called the war started by the United States and Israel “very illegal and very unjust.”
Meanwhile, Poland’s defense minister said there will be no transfer of Patriot missile batteries used to protect NATO’s eastern flank amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The minister’s comments came after Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported on Tuesday that the United States had asked the country in private talks with Polish representatives to consider redeploying one of its Patriot missile batteries to the Middle East. Other media reported that the US asked all NATO allies the same question. CNN has not been able to independently confirm these reports, but has reached out to NATO for comment.
Britain announced on Tuesday it would send additional air defense systems to Persian Gulf states to support the “collective defense of our allies” as “Iran’s offensive missile and drone attacks” continue across the region. But that has not shielded Britain from Trump’s frequent criticisms.
President Trump on Tuesday broadly criticized European allies for not getting further involved in the war and said the United States would not support them in the future.
“To all the countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the UK, which refused to get involved in the Iranian beheadings, I have a suggestion for you. First, buy it from the US, we have plenty. And second, belatedly… You have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the United States isn’t there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” President Trump said. I mentioned it in a post on Social.
“Iran is essentially destroyed. The hard part is over. Get your own oil,” Trump said.
In a later post, he added: “The country of France will not allow planes carrying military supplies bound for Israel to fly over French territory,” and warned that the United States would remember France as “very unhelpful.”
“Trump’s criticism has been shockingly inconsistent,” said Zworski, an analyst at RUSI. “He’s going from ‘we don’t need the help of our European allies’ to ‘why aren’t they helping us? They’re ungrateful.'”
Zworski also argued that President Trump’s comments regarding the NATO alliance were surprising, as the US president has indicated that his country is not very keen on defending its allies in the future.
“The only country that has directly benefited from NATO military action is the United States, where NATO Article 5 was invoked for the first time after the September 11 attacks,” Zworski said. “And European leaders are right in this regard to point out that NATO is a collective self-defense organization. … NATO is not an organization that should be used as a toolbox for unconsulted foreign intervention.”
Of course, not all of Europe is united in its response to the Iran war. Some countries, such as the Baltic states, will not want to upset President Trump given the proximity to the Ukraine war. And some countries, including the UK, are likely to continue to walk a fine line in maintaining good relations with the US.
But it is telling that even countries that are considered close allies, such as the right-wing Italian government, are rejecting U.S. military requests.
“Mr. Meloni’s relationship with Mr. Trump has always been based on politics rather than policy,” said Riccardo Arcaro, research director and coordinator of the Global Actors Program at the Rome-based Institute of International Studies (IAI) think tank.
Arcaro said that while the two leaders share a common opposition to immigration, President Trump’s actions on tariffs, trade, aid to Ukraine and broader international security are inconsistent with Italy’s interests.
The analyst also said that President Trump “has little regard for Europeans because he sees them as free riders…In his view, the United States provides security for Europeans. But Europeans are beginning to question that.”
Arcaro told CNN that it is true that the United States “remains the primary guarantor against NATO member states against territorial aggression.” But it is also true that Europeans have been paying for military aid to Ukraine without help from the Trump administration, and that “the rhetoric coming out of Washington is not very reassuring for Europeans.”
CNN’s Antonia Mortensen, Sana Noor Haq and Tim Lister contributed to this report.
