"It is an unnecessary stress test and way to handle this," Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament, told Breaking Defense.
What the questionnaire reportedly asked and why it surfaced
Bloomberg first reported on Aug. 14 that the Pentagon circulated a questionnaire to NATO allies tied to a US force posture review for Europe. According to that report, the document included questions about governments’ public support for US policy, their level of engagement with US defense contractors and whether host-nation rules would allow use of US military bases in-country for operations related to the Iran conflict.
Estonia's critique and the timing around the NATO meeting
Mihkelson told Breaking Defense that while questionnaires from allied headquarters are not unusual, a unilateral US dispatch risks dividing the alliance. He said he has not personally seen the questionnaire but understood it requires answers by Aug. 27 — the date when the next North Atlantic Council (NAC) meeting is expected to take place at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels and to be attended by the US Under Secretary for Defense Policy, Elbridge Colby. Mihkelson called for raising these issues at an NAC meeting instead of through a unilateral survey.
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Protect the town officeReactions from capitals, NATO, and senior commentators
Responses across Europe were mixed and, in public, often cautious. A NATO official confirmed to Breaking Defense that Washington is working with allies on its force posture review but deferred to US authorities for specifics about the questionnaire. A Norwegian Ministry of Defense spokesperson told Breaking Defense that Oslo was informed at a ministerial meeting in Brussels in June that such a request would be forthcoming and that Norway was "reviewing the questions and will respond to the US on the issues raised."
Bloomberg reported that Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said at a press conference he did not view the US move "as pressure, [as] it is the way the current US administration operates." The German Ministry of Defense told Breaking Defense via email that Berlin "has also been invited by the US to take part in its force posture review" and framed the exchange as an opportunity to "continue its already close and trusting dialogue with the US on common defense policy interests." Several other NATO nations did not respond to requests for comment, according to the reporting.
Outside Europe, one vocal critic, Ivo Daalder — former US ambassador to NATO (2009–2013) — posted on X that the questionnaire "puts fealty above common interests, divides allies among themselves, weakens collective defense, and ultimately could destroy NATO." An unnamed senior European defense official told Al Jazeera the administration had been "confusing NATO topics with unilateral US military operations" and said the questionnaire reflected that confusion, arguing "NATO has nothing to do with the Middle East."
How the US framed the request and the Iran context
A US official declined to directly address the questionnaire to Breaking Defense but quoted President Donald Trump’s disappointment about allies’ lack of support during "Operation Epic Fury, which is making the entire world safer by denuclearizing Iran." The official said the United States expects to be able to use its bases in Europe to "advance global and European, security," and added that US troops in Europe protect Europe yet requests to use NATO bases during the conflict were denied, per that statement.
How European capitals, NATO leadership, and Moscow and Beijing are watching
- European capitals: Several capitals (Norway, Germany, Finland) publicly framed the questionnaire as part of dialogue on force posture or as consistent with US practice; others declined to comment publicly while reviewing the questions, per the reporting.
- NATO leadership: A NATO official told Breaking Defense that Washington is working with allies on the force posture review, signaling institutional engagement even as some officials prefer discussion in NAC forums rather than unilateral surveys.
- Moscow and Beijing: Mihkelson warned allies that answers and visible divisions matter to Russia and China, saying capitals must avoid giving Moscow or Beijing the impression that NATO is divided or not focused on deterring threats at its borders.
The questionnaire has, in the span of a week, become a touchpoint for debates about process and alliance politics: whether force-posture questions should be handled bilaterally or in NATO bodies, how to square national priorities with alliance cohesion, and how public polling of allied positions may be perceived by third parties. The next NAC meeting on Aug. 27, attended by senior US defense policy representation, will be the immediate forum where those procedural and political tensions are likely to be tested.
