NATO Decides to Relocate U.S. Fighter Wing From Spain to Italy

NATO defense ministers agreed Thursday to transfer 72 U.S. F-16 fighter-bombers from Spain to Italy and to pay for the relocation, officials said.

Gen. Wolfgang Altenburg, chairman of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s military committee, said that panel had recommended Italy as “the only suitable country.”

West German Defense Minister Rupert Scholz said the ministers unanimously approved the recommendation. He said the relocation would not entail extra expenditures for the alliance.

The relocation will be paid from NATO’s infrastructure fund, which is used to finance alliance construction and communications. All NATO nations contribute to the fund according to a set ratio, with the United States’ contribution amounting to about 45% of the total.

In a statement, NATO Secretary General Lord Carrington hailed the move as an important step “to sharing the burdens . . . equitably among the alliance as a whole.”

The 72 F-16s of the 401st Fighter Wing have been asked to leave Torrejon Air Base near Madrid as part of the Spanish policy to gradually reduce the American military presence in Spain.

The United States had served notice it wants NATO to pay for the relocation if the allies wanted the fighter wing to remain in Europe.

“The military committee recommendation was that we should not lose that wing in Europe and that it should remain in the southern region,” Altenburg said.

The committee, comprising chiefs of staff of NATO member states, is the alliance’s top military body.

The decision was taken on the first day of the semiannual meeting of the NATO defense ministers. The meeting was called to assess military needs for the coming years and each member nation’s share in the common defense burden.

Scholz said the ministers approved NATO force goals for the coming five years and started a debate on burden-sharing. The Americans have charged repeatedly their European allies do not shoulder a big enough share of the common defense burden.

Scholz said he found Secretary of Defense Frank C. Carlucci “very constructive” on the burden-sharing issue, recognizing the issue should not be looked at only from a budgetary point of view, but also in terms of quality.

Ministers of European NATO countries, in a preparatory session Tuesday, countered U.S. charges by pointing out their financial contribution to the common defense has risen by 34% since 1970 against 15% for the United States.