A senior Estonian lawmaker has sharply criticised a Pentagon questionnaire sent to NATO allies, calling it an “unnecessary stress test” that could divide the alliance.
Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the Estonian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, described the document as one of the “harshest internal stress tests” NATO has faced in recent memory.
Bloomberg first reported on the questionnaire on August 14, revealing it asked allies about their public support for US policy and engagement with American defence contractors.
The document also asked whether allies had allowed US military bases to be used for operations related to the US-Israel conflict with Iran, raising significant concerns in European capitals.
Titled “Questions for NATO Allies & Other Key Stakeholders,” the questionnaire forms part of a six-month review of American forces in Europe announced by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
It asks whether countries have endorsed the “NATO 3.0” concept of greater European responsibility, and whether they have shown alignment with Hegseth’s “strong, clear, and quiet” approach to alliance management.
Mihkelson warned that any steps signalling disunity could be exploited by adversaries, stating that allies must avoid creating an image that suggests NATO is fractured or unfocused.
“It is critically important for us in this time, a time of not living in peace time … that both in words and deeds to not make any steps to create an image that would indicate to Moscow or Beijing that NATO is not united or focused on deterring threats growing on our borders,” Mihkelson told Breaking Defense.
He acknowledged that NATO countries routinely receive questionnaires but noted these typically originate from NATO headquarters rather than being sent unilaterally by a single member nation.
“To do your review on force posture, you can handle it in a way that serves both US national interests and those of allied countries. I don’t see the questionnaire as doing or serving this,” Mihkelson said.
The Estonian lawmaker suggested that a more constructive approach would have been to raise these issues directly at a NATO North Atlantic Council meeting, where member nations collectively discuss security decisions.
Mihkelson said he understands the questionnaire requires answers by August 27, when the next NAC meeting is expected to take place at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
That Brussels meeting is expected to be attended by US Under Secretary for Defense Policy Elbridge Colby, adding diplomatic weight to an already tense moment for transatlantic relations.
Mihkelson admitted he has not personally seen the questionnaire but said the news was not a significant surprise given “the way the current administration there handles things.”
Bloomberg and Al Jazeera both reported that several current European officials have criticised the questionnaire, though many are publicly adopting a more cautious and restrained tone.
European voices have increasingly warned that framing security cooperation around what amounts to a loyalty test risks undermining decades of carefully built trust within the alliance.
With no final decisions yet announced on US force posture in Europe, the questionnaire has nonetheless injected fresh uncertainty into an alliance already navigating a shifting geopolitical landscape.
As Mihkelson made clear, the consequences of any unnecessary fragmentation would be felt most acutely not in Washington but along NATO’s vulnerable eastern flank.