MADRID, June 8. /TASS/. European defense would have never been as effective as it is without the United States, Portuguese Defense Minister Nuno Melo said.

"Never before has the European continent as a whole, and I am excluding the war in Ukraine, enjoyed such a long period of peace, at least in the time span we measure from the end of World War II, thanks in part to NATO," the EFE news agency quoted him as saying. "And NATO, as a deterrence and defense organization, has fulfilled its role very well. European defense is not equally effective with or without the United States."

Recently, US President Donald Trump has been harshly criticizing the United States’ European allies for refusing to join the war against Iran. All of the European Union countries have refused to participate in military operations alongside the United States against the Islamic Republic. In response, the US president called European allies cowards and promised to remember this. He also criticized NATO, calling the alliance a "paper tiger."