INTERNACIONAL
NATO’s eastern flank races to rearm as Trump pressure exposes Western Europe’s defense gap
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
This is part six of a series examining the challenges confronting the NATO alliance.
As President Donald Trump presses NATO allies to shoulder more of Europe’s defense burden, countries closest to Russia are moving fastest — while some of Western Europe’s biggest economies face growing pressure to catch up.
Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former deputy director for strategy, policy and plans at U.S. European Command, said the shift is already visible across the alliance.
«Europe is clearly stepping up, but they’re stepping up by geographic variation,» Montgomery told Fox News Digital.
«If you ask me who’s doing the most, the Eastern Europeans are clearly.»
RUSSIAN DRONES TEST NATO’S ARTICLE 5 DEFENSE GUARANTEE AHEAD OF FRIDAY SANCTIONS DEADLINE
As President Donald Trump presses NATO allies to shoulder more of Europe’s defense burden, countries closest to Russia are moving fastest. (Burak Akbulut/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Montgomery pointed to the Baltic states, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria as countries moving aggressively to strengthen deterrence against Russia.
His assessment comes as NATO allies work toward a new defense spending benchmark agreed at the 2025 summit in The Hague, which calls on members to invest 5% of GDP in defense and security-related spending by 2035, including 3.5% for core defense requirements and 1.5% for defense-related infrastructure and security investments.
John Deni, a research professor at the U.S. Army War College, said the trend shouldn’t be surprising.
«Given the threat of Russia, allies in the East are acquiring capabilities more quickly, and they’re spending even more than allies in the West,» Deni told Fox News Digital. «This shouldn’t surprise us because they’re the ones closest to the threat.»
Deni noted that many eastern allies are rapidly purchasing equipment already available on the market rather than waiting years for domestic defense programs to mature.
UK, GERMAN DEFENSE OFFICIALS DEFEND MILITARY BUILDUP UNDER RUSSIAN THREATS
President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte attend the start of a NATO leaders summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. (Ludovic Marin/Pool via Reuters)
The transformation is visible across NATO’s eastern and northern flanks. Poland has become one of the alliance’s largest military spenders, Romania is increasing defense investments, and Finland and Sweden have added advanced military capabilities to NATO following their accession.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Finland and Sweden Thursday at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, using them as examples of allies strengthening the alliance.
«Sweden and Finland have actually contributed because they brought their own defense industry, their own advanced technology,» Rubio said. «They have been great partners.»
Romanian Foreign Minister Oana-Silvia Ţoiu echoed that message in an interview with Fox News Digital following an emergency U.N. Security Council session convened after a Russian drone strike injured civilians in the Romanian city of Galați.
«We do agree with President Trump on the need to increase budgets,» Ţoiu said.
Ţoiu said Romania raised defense spending to 2% of GDP during Trump’s previous term and plans to allocate «an average of 3.4 percent» next year through military procurement and strategic infrastructure investments.
POLAND SEEKS ANSWERS AFTER PENTAGON SCRAPS PLANNED US ARMORED BRIGADE ROTATION
«Europe is clearly stepping up, but they’re stepping up by geographic variation,» Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery told Fox News Digital. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters)
«We have launched initiatives that are directed at the eastern flank because it is increasingly more clear that that needs to be protected,» she said.
She argued that Romania’s role extends beyond national defense.
«We need better deterrence, better defense capabilities there in order to ensure our responsibility in protecting not just the Romanian border, which is the longest border to the war, but also it is in the same time a European border and the border of the Allied territory,» Ţoiu said.
For frontline states, the urgency is driven by geography as much as politics. Romania shares a border with Ukraine and repeatedly has dealt with Russian drones entering its airspace. Poland has become one of NATO’s top military spenders, while the Baltic states are racing toward defense expenditures approaching 5% of GDP.
Montgomery said the eastern flank’s urgency contrasts sharply with the pace in much of Western Europe.
Among the continent’s five largest economies, and despite a slight decrease in military spending in 2025, the U.K. remains the largest investor relative to GDP, with 2.4%, trailed by Germany (2.3%), Spain (2.1%), France (2%) and Italy (1.9%), according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
WHY NATO’S DEFENSE SPENDING IMBALANCE LASTED FOR DECADES
Oana-Silvia Toiu, Romania’s minister for foreign affairs, speaks during an emergency Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York on June 1, 2026, after a Russian military drone entered Romanian airspace and exploded, injuring civilians. (Lev Radin/Sipa USA)
«The Germans are the one country, I think, with a large economy that is starting to make the right kind of investments.»
Germany, he argued, could become the backbone of Europe’s future defense industrial base.
«Germany developing a large, impressive defense industrial base is good for NATO, it’s good for Western security, and it’s even good for our primes,» Montgomery said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has embraced higher defense spending and backed NATO’s new spending goals, positioning Berlin as a potential hub for Europe’s future defense industrial base as allies seek to reduce long-term dependence on the United States.
But despite rising defense budgets, experts warn Europe remains heavily dependent on American military capabilities.
Barak Seener, a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said Europe still relies on the United States for many of the systems required to fight a modern war.
NATO CHIEF WARNS EUROPE CAN’T DEFEND ITSELF WITHOUT US AS TENSIONS RISE OVER GREENLAND
Despite rising defense budgets, experts warn Europe remains heavily dependent on American military capabilities. (Anders Wiklund/TT News Agency via AP, File)
«Europe is heavily dependent on NATO for its strategic airlift and sea lift, its air-to-air refueling, its cyber capabilities, its space assets, its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance,» Seener said.
Without those capabilities, he warned, European forces would struggle to maintain situational awareness during a major conflict.
Montgomery said Europe faces three major challenges: expanding military capacity, rebuilding its defense industrial base and developing high-end support capabilities that have long been provided by the United States.
PENTAGON CUTS BRIGADE COMBAT TEAMS IN EUROPE AS TRUMP PRESSURES NATO ON SPENDING
Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery pointed to the Baltic states, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria as countries moving aggressively to strengthen deterrence against Russia. (Kuba Stezycki/Reuters)
«When you are freeloading for 30 years, you create enormous deficits in terms of people, equipment, technology and know-how,» he said.
«The primary forces to defend Europe should be European,» he said. «The United States should provide additional forces that allow maneuver and offensive operations.»
Montgomery also criticized reported Pentagon deliberations over delaying long-range strike deployments to Germany and reconsidering future Tomahawk missile sales, arguing the systems are critical for deterring Russia.
«The goal here is not to fight Russia in the Baltics or in Poland. The idea here is we want to deter Russia from even trying to attack.»
Looking ahead, Montgomery remains optimistic about NATO’s future.
Montgomery predicted Europe will continue increasing defense spending and expanding its defense industrial base, while the alliance benefits from steadier transatlantic relations.
«I think you’ll have a U.S. president that probably doesn’t provoke the Europeans as much. You’ll have Europe that’s investing more,» he said.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
U.S. Army M1 Abrams tanks take part in the Armed Forces Day parade in Warsaw, Poland, Aug. 15, 2025. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto)
He also predicted NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte would be remembered for helping hold the alliance together through a period of significant change.
«I think five years from now, NATO will be stronger,» he said. «And I hope we have Ukraine in there.»
nato, ukraine, europe, spending, russia
INTERNACIONAL
Putin admitió que hay escasez de combustible en Rusia tras los ataques de Ucrania a dos refinerías
El presidente de Rusia, Vladimir Putin, admitió este domingo que existe la falta de suministro de combustible en su país causada por los repetidos ataques de Ucrania contra refinerías con el objetivo de debilitar la ofensiva militar Moscú en la guerra iniciada en febrero de 2022.
«En general, para estabilizar el mercado de combustible, creo que es necesario adoptar medidas sistémicas acordes con la magnitud de los desafíos actuales», dijo Putin en la reunión que mantuvieron miembros del gobierno ruso y jefes de las principales compañías de hidrocarburos.
En cuanto a las medidas que se adoptarán, Putin indicó que se aumentará «la oferta» de combustibles para mantener así los precios.
El presidente ruso subrayó además que su gobierno creó un gabinete de crisis, que opera las 24 horas, para supervisar la situación con el combustible.
«También se han preparado propuestas adicionales para garantizar el suministro de combustible al mercado interno, en colaboración con las compañías petroleras», añadió Putin.
El mandatario reconoció que el mercado interno comenzó a consumir las reservas de combustible, aunque aseguró que los niveles están prácticamente al mismo nivel que el año pasado.
«Las refinerías más grandes están funcionando a máxima capacidad» y se está sondeando a las pequeñas y medianas empresas. «Se han reducido los períodos de mantenimiento de rutina y se aplazaron los mantenimientos programados. Para julio se estima que la producción de combustibles primarios superará la de junio», apuntó.
Y continuó: «Somos conscientes de los problemas que tienen los productores agrícolas y las granjas durante el verano. Se está haciendo todo lo posible para garantizar que las empresas agrícolas tengan el suministro de combustible previsto porque la cosecha depende de ello».
Every Russian defense facility that serves the war against Ukraine is a just target for our long-range sanctions.
Last night, FP-5 Flamingo missiles successfully struck the Titan-Barrikady facility in Volgograd. It is a major industrial complex where the enemy produces artillery… pic.twitter.com/JB5JmRjTAe
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 27, 2026
Ucrania mantuvo su intenso fuego de drones sobre Rusia en las últimas horas, que provocaron un incendio en la refinería de Slavyansk-na-Kubani, una localidad de la región rusa de Krasnodar, al este de Crimea, según el gobernador Veniamin Kondratyev. La caída de los artefactos mató a una persona en Slavyansk e hirió a otra en una aldea cercana, de acuerdo con las autoridades regionales.
La refinería, gestionada por Slavyansk ECO, tiene una capacidad de unos 100.000 barriles al día y es un proveedor clave de combustible para la Crimea ocupada por Rusia. La instalación ha sido objeto de repetidos ataques desde el inicio de la guerra, según se informa, un ataque perpetrado el 26 de enero causó daños en componentes de una unidad principal de procesamiento de crudo de las instalaciones.
Volodimir Zelensky también sostuvo que una segunda refinería rusa, en la región de Yaroslavl, a unos 700 kilómetros (435 millas) de la frontera ucraniana, fue alcanzada durante los ataques nocturnos.
La refinería Slavneft-Yanos de Yaroslavl es la quinta más grande de Rusia, con una capacidad de unos 15 millones de toneladas al año, lo que equivale a unos 300.000 barriles al día. La planta, propiedad conjunta de unidades de Rosneft Oil Co. y Gazprom PJSC, suministra combustible al centro y noroeste de Rusia y ha sido objeto de al menos cuatro ataques desde diciembre de 2025.
“Cada ataque nuestro de larga distancia reduce los recursos que dan fuerza a la máquina de guerra rusa, y supone otro paso hacia la paz”, expresó el presidente ucraniano al explicar el objetivo de las misiones realizadas en el interior de Rusia.
Y siguió: «Estoy agradecido a cada ingeniero ucraniano y guerrero que asegura nuestra capacidad de largo alcance. ¡Gloria a Ucrania!».
Zelensky denunció también que Rusia intensificó sus ataques contra Ucrania durante la última semana, utilizando cerca de 1.400 drones, casi 1.500 bombas aéreas guiadas y 19 misiles de distintos tipos, incluidos balísticos.
INTERNACIONAL
Iran targets US with psychological warfare campaign to manipulate Americans, embarrass Trump: experts
Iranian regime’s ‘hardline rhetoric’ under fire as US deal nears
President Donald Trump takes a firm stance on Iran’s economic downturn and ongoing nuclear negotiations, emphasizing that U.S. forces are ready if diplomacy fails. John Roberts and Sandra Smith report on the White House cabinet meeting, where Trump discussed Iran’s high inflation and lack of sanctions relief. Dr. Mahsa Tehrani questions the trustworthiness of the Islamic Republic.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Tehran has deployed a new front on Western social media, including a covert influence campaign to sway Americans and undermine President Donald Trump’s push for a nuclear deal, experts warned Sunday.
Following the February U.S. strikes on Iran that decapitated much of Tehran’s leadership and the signing of an interim memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Tehran and Washington, the analysts also claim Iranian officials are relying more on digital proxies to project centralized control.
«Iran’s leadership now lives on X because it is a decapitated leadership,» counterterrorism expert Dr. Omar Mohammed told Fox News Digital.
«The regime has moved its legitimacy contest onto a platform, and once you are fighting there, you optimize for it,» Mohammed, of the George Washington Program on Extremism, added.
IRANIAN REGIME SPREADING ANTI-ISRAEL PROPAGANDA ACROSS DOZENS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS: REPORT
The administration’s memorandum of understanding with Tehran has exposed a divide among Republicans over what constitutes victory after the military campaign against Iran. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
«There are English, screenshot-ready lines, memeable contempt and civilizational pride. It is adaptation under pressure — an influence operation forced by the fact that the men running Iran can no longer stand at a podium.»
After Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed on Feb. 28, the regime’s senior leadership was largely eliminated, and the new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is in hiding. Mohammed said Iran’s digital messaging has since become more centralized.
«The coordination between the leadership is visible: You watch the same lines reposted verbatim by the judiciary chief, the vice president and the security council within minutes,» the expert explained.
«That is a central media shop pushing copy, not officials independently moved by the same spirit at the same moment. And the register gives it away.»
According to Mohammed, the regime’s X accounts serve as a manufactured proxy for the leadership vacuum while exploiting political divisions in the United States, a strategy that he says surfaced even more after Trump signed a new peace deal on June 17 in Versailles.
«Tehran is not aiming at the United States as a single entity,» Mohammed said.
IRAN’S UNPRECEDENTED ‘WHOLE-REGIME’ DELEGATION AT US DEAL TALKS SIGNALS ONE GOAL: EXPERT
New Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Donald Trump are shown side by side as opposing figures in the Middle East. (Vahid Salemi/AP; Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
«It reads Washington as two power centers and pitches to both — working to embarrass the deal the president owns while speaking the language of multipolarity back to the worldview it attributes to the vice president.»
In the wake of the signing and the first round of negotiations in Switzerland, for example, Trump said on Truth Social that unfrozen Iranian assets would be used to buy American agricultural products, including soybeans, wheat and corn.
The Treasury Department, he wrote, would release the Iranian assets «into escrow, controlled by the United States, and will be used for the purchase of food and medical supplies, exclusively from the United States, including corn, wheat and soybeans from our great American farmers. These are things that are desperately needed by Iran.»
The regime’s posts from its lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, mocked the claims as «trash talks.»
«America falsely claims our unfrozen assets will buy their agriculture. Interesting. The only crop we’re harvesting is what you planted: decades of mistrust. It’s organic, abundant, and homegrown. But apparently the U.S. only exports GMO soybeans, broken promises and trash talks,» Ghalibaf wrote on X.
«The agriculture jab is aimed straight at Trump, who personally sold the frozen-assets release to American farmers as a corn-and-soybean windfall, so mocking ‘GMO soybeans and broken promises’ is built to embarrass the deal he owns,» Mohammed claimed.
VANCE REJECTS CLAIMS TRUMP-IRAN DEAL ECHOES OBAMA-ERA LOGIC AS HAWKS RAISE ALARM
Vance tells Fox News Digital the U.S.-Iran deal tests whether Tehran will trade decades of isolation for sanctions relief and renewed Western ties. (Fox News Digital)
«Tehran gains if it can discredit the deal the president is selling,» he added.
«That is also not a 64-year-old Iranian speaker writing for himself; that is a young social media team writing in his name,» Mohammed said.
Mohammed also noted Trump’s posts are his own, with the «account and the man the same.»
«The Iranian accounts are the reverse. They come from an institution manufacturing a public presence for a leadership that can no longer appear in person,» he said.
As ordinary Iranian citizens continue to face strict internet restrictions at home, Tehran’s elite enjoy open access to foreign platforms to target Western audiences.
IRAN REGIME ESCALATES REPRESSION TOWARD ‘NORTH KOREA-STYLE MODEL OF ISOLATION AND CONTROL’
Tehran has deployed a new front on Western social media, including an influence campaign to sway Americans and undermine President Donald Trump’s push for a deal, analysts warn. (Hamed Malekpour / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
Alp Toker, of internet monitoring firm NetBlocks, told Fox News Digital that the regime had «learned» asymmetric information warfare.
«These regimes are learning to combine social media, AI and internet censorship as tools for asymmetric information warfare, benefiting from a global audience while sidestepping accountability to their own citizens,» he said.
«There is a two-tier system in which government officials can use the platform freely to promote their agenda while denying access to their citizens, as they do in Iran.
«It’s a double-edged sword — you get more open politics at the cost of regime propagandization.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
«Iranian authorities, among others, are getting better at gaming this system,» Toker added.
Mohammed said the parallel systems — a heavily censored internet at home and what he described as an «open megaphone» aimed at Western audiences — provide the strongest evidence the campaign is an external influence operation rather than organic domestic speech.
mojtaba khamenei, ali khamenei, middle east, counter terrorism, iran
INTERNACIONAL
Estos son los rostros del partido oficial que se postulan a diputados por la diáspora salvadoreña
El partido oficialista Nuevas Ideas abrió este domingo el proceso de inscripciones para las precandidaturas de sus elecciones internas, paso previo a los comicios generales previstos para 2027. La jornada se desarrolló en la sede nacional del partido en San Salvador, donde funcionarios, dirigentes y militantes presentaron la documentación ante la Comisión Nacional Electoral (CNE), órgano encargado de organizar el proceso interno.
Entre quienes buscan representar a los salvadoreños en el exterior está la actual diputada por San Salvador, Alexia Rivas, quien confirmó su inscripción como precandidata a diputada por la diáspora salvadoreña para el periodo 2027-2030. Rivas manifestó su intención de continuar representando a la comunidad salvadoreña fuera del país.
“Mi compromiso también está con todos los salvadoreños que se encuentran fuera de nuestra patria. En las pasadas elecciones, ustedes me convirtieron en la diputada más votada del exterior y eso para mí representa una gran responsabilidad. Por ello, me dirigiré a la sede de nuestro gran partido para inscribirme como precandidata a diputada por los salvadoreños en el exterior», señaló la actual funcionaria.
A su postulación se suma Wilber Francisco Alabi, quien expresó: “Hoy doy un paso más en mi compromiso con El Salvador al inscribirme como precandidato a Diputado por la Diáspora. Lo hago con la convicción de representar y servir a los salvadoreños que, desde cualquier parte del mundo, siguen construyendo nuestra nación. ¡La transformación debe seguir llegando a todos!” Con estas palabras, Alabi reafirmó su propósito de fortalecer el vínculo entre la diáspora y el país.
La jornada de inscripción, establecida por el calendario electoral como única fecha para formalizar precandidaturas, reunió también a figuras como el presidente de la Asamblea Legislativa, Ernesto Castro, quien se postuló como precandidato a diputado por San Salvador. Participaron además la diputada Suecy Callejas y el alcalde de San Salvador Centro, Mario Durán, quien manifestó su deseo de continuar al frente de la alcaldía.
El proceso de elecciones internas de Nuevas Ideas incluye la revisión de la documentación presentada por cada aspirante. Según el instructivo aprobado por la Comisión Nacional Electoral, quienes cumplan con los requisitos serán registrados oficialmente como precandidatos. En caso de inconsistencias subsanables, los aspirantes dispondrán de dos días hábiles para corregirlas.
Las votaciones internas están previstas para el 12 de julio, cuando la militancia del partido seleccionará a quienes integrarán las fórmulas que competirán en las urnas generales de 2027. Este procedimiento es obligatorio para todos los postulantes con la finalidad de garantizar la legalidad y transparencia del proceso, indicaron las autoridades partidarias.
Por otro lado, el diputado oficialista Edgardo Mulato, representante del departamento de San Salvador, informó este domingo que finaliza una etapa relevante en su carrera política, lo que sugiere que no buscará la reelección.
El legislador comunicó el fin de una etapa y manifestó su gratitud por el apoyo brindado por la militancia de Nuevas Ideas y los residentes de la ciudad capital.
“Concluyo una etapa significativa en mi vida… No se trata de una despedida, sino del inicio de algo nuevo”, declaró en sus redes sociales.
Mientras avanza la organización interna, el contexto político nacional se caracteriza por un distanciamiento de la ciudadanía respecto a los partidos tradicionales. El más reciente estudio del Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública (IUDOP) indica que el 59.7% de los consultados en 2026 no se identifica con ninguna fuerza política, resultado que evidencia una tendencia de desapego partidario en la población.
El respaldo a partidos políticos se concentra en Nuevas Ideas, que en 2026 registra un 34.2% de preferencia entre los encuestados. Arena y FMLN apenas alcanzan 1.4% y 1.3% respectivamente, en tanto que otras agrupaciones como Vamos, PDC, PCN y GANA no superan el 1.0% de apoyo.
En la intención de voto presidencial, el 63.3% de los encuestados elegiría a Nuevas Ideas. Arena y GANA obtienen 1.4% y 1.2%, FMLN alcanza 0.9% y PCN 0.3%. Para la Asamblea Legislativa, Nuevas Ideas reúne el 51.5% de las preferencias, seguida de Arena con 3.4% y Vamos con 2.4%. En las elecciones municipales, Nuevas Ideas lidera con 41.9%, Arena suma 3.6% y FMLN 1.8%.
La participación de nuevos perfiles en la contienda interna del partido oficialista marca el inicio de un proceso electoral en El Salvador que definirá las candidaturas de cara a las elecciones de 2027.
corresponsal:Desde San Salvador, El Salvador
Putin admitió que hay escasez de combustible en Rusia tras los ataques de Ucrania a dos refinerías
Senado: ya sin el lastre de Adorni, el oficialismo busca reactivar la agenda del Gobierno
Javier Milei y Diego Santilli están reunidos en Olivos y se define el sucesor de Adorni como Jefe de Gabinete
Relegado en River, Subiabre fue filmado en un torneo de intercountries, donde discutió con un rival: “Dejalo que está colgado”
Prepagas, alquileres, transporte y tarifas: uno por uno, todos los aumentos que llegan en julio
Piden juicio político para el fiscal general de Lomas de Zamora que archivó una causa por corrupción contra funcionarios de Insaurralde
Líderes mundiales ofrecieron ayuda humanitaria y equipos de rescate a Venezuela tras los devastadores terremotos
La bomba de Nico Occhiato tras el escándalo de Florencia Peña con Messi: “Lo más groso que pudimos haber logrado”
El punto de quiebre que sentó la suerte de Manuel Adorni y los preparativos que hace el Gobierno ante su inminente salida
Una escena estremecedora: el dato más doloroso de los minutos posteriores a la muerte de Ernestina Pais
CHIMENTOS1 día agoLa bomba de Nico Occhiato tras el escándalo de Florencia Peña con Messi: “Lo más groso que pudimos haber logrado”
- POLITICA1 día ago
El punto de quiebre que sentó la suerte de Manuel Adorni y los preparativos que hace el Gobierno ante su inminente salida
- CHIMENTOS2 días ago
Una escena estremecedora: el dato más doloroso de los minutos posteriores a la muerte de Ernestina Pais
