Russia is at war with Europe, even if Europe is too timid to admit this as fact, a retired U.S. General told the Oslo Security Conference. Europe’s NATO members are naïve, timid, and unable to defend themselves, General Ben Hodges said in Oslo on Monday. The heavily Trump-critical retired officer who commanded the United States Army Europe between 2014 and 2018 banged the drum for aggressively confronting Russia, saying Europe needed to wake up to the threat and start imposing costs on Russia. Speaking on a panel at the Oslo Security Conference, Hodges said: “you have to acknowledge there is a threat, that there is an enemy. And Russia is absolutely at war with Europe, even if we don’t want to believe it, the Russians are absolute at war with us”.
General Hodges is a persistent critic of President Trump and endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024, but nevertheless said he could agree with the U.S. Commander-in-Chief on one thing, that European states need to take defence more seriously. He said: “this is probably the only time I’ve ever agreed with my President, Europe absolutely can’t defend itself. Please stop whining! You were Vikings for God’s sake.”
